


looking for a brighter season

by Icouldrun



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Silence of the Lambs inspired, Uchiha Clan Massacre fix it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:40:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29236212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icouldrun/pseuds/Icouldrun
Summary: Sakura learns the truth about one of the greatest conspiracies of her village
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Itachi
Comments: 40
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

The long-awaited day of Sasuke’s return started out as any other.

She wasn’t sure what had Kizashi laughing downstairs, but as much as Sakura enjoyed hearing her parents happy, it occurred to her that she needed to get her own place soon. She was after all now a full-grown adult and accomplished kunoichi in her own rights. Also, the last of her peers to still live in their childhood room.

She could smell Mebuki’s tea brewing and the breakfast that would no doubt be waiting for her when Sakura finally made an appearance. That was another reason _not_ to move out. Her mother’s cooking was so much better than Sakura’s attempts in the kitchen.

Hungry and ready for another day in Konoha, Sakura took one last look at herself in the mirror with satisfaction at her appearance.

Her steps were light and quick down the stairs of their modest home. Just about to ask her father what had him laughing so much, she was cut off by the pounding on the door and Lee’s distressed voice.

“Sakura! Sakura open up immediately!”

Her parents stopped their conversation and Sakura stayed on the last step. Lee had never sounded so upset to her before. Uncertain, she finally got to the door and opened it with a little more force than necessary.

“It’s Sasuke! Sasuke’s back!”

She stared at him, the words echoing through her shocked mind and her total bewilderment. She could only stare at her friend, but her thoughts remained chaos.

“You must come immediately, there are injuries.”

She felt the hand on her shoulders and her mother’s worried gaze, “Sakura?”

“I have to go,” she turned to Mebuki. Her mother’s skin was pale like Sakura imagined hers was. They looked at each other for a long while, neither certain what to do for a beat.

“Go then. And be careful.”

* * *

Sakura thought she might pass out. The run to the hospital was nothing, she could do that in her sleep. The way her heart pounded the closer they got was another thing entirely. Her hands shook and her legs threatened to give out beneath her, but Sakura ran harder than she had ever tried before. Lee was beside her the whole way, an odd look of concentration as they grew nearer. She wanted to ask him so much, but no words formed for her. She was blank, uncertain, and totally unsure what to expect when they arrived. 

Chaos, evidently.

The hospital was packed with people running around and tired shinobi slumped against the wall. She spotted Naruto and stopped just before him.

“Is it true?”

He flashed her a smile, though it wasn’t all there in his eyes. “He’s in surgery now. He was in bad shape but when I asked him if he was ready to come home, he said yes.”

She let out a shaky breath and felt hope for the first time in so long. “I just can’t believe it,” she admitted as she looked around her hospital.

“Sakura, there’s something else you should know.”

“What is it?”

“Sakura!”

She turned at the command in Tsunade’s voice, unable to hear Naruto and whatever he was going to tell her.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be back,” she called to her friend as she ran to her master.

“Yes?”

“Gear up, I need you in surgery.”

Sakura held still, her body going rigid. The thought of Sasuke on a table before her, in some beaten state and clinging to life? She couldn’t handle that.

“Shishou, I’m not sure I can handle-”

“Nonsense. I’ve got Uchiha, you get the other one down the hall.”

Her shoulders dropped. _Other one?_

“Go now Sakura, there isn’t much time.”

She ran in the direction Tsunade pointed, the other surgery room where she could see her colleagues prepping. She really wasn’t sure what to expect when she finally made it inside.

The smell of blood, certainly, but the overwhelming fragrance made her stop abrupt.

It overpowered her senses and made it difficult to focus when she first stepped into surgery.

She should have been used to it by now, but Sakura wasn’t sure a person _could_ become accustomed to being so close to death. Medic or shinobi, sometimes humanity won out over all training.

She managed to snap into focus, gathering her wits and moving into the room.

Blood loss, assess main damage, begin healing.

It would have been so simple except she finally saw her patient.

Sakura had only met Itachi Uchiha the one time. Across the battlefield, she’d made it a point _not_ to see him. To catch his eye that day would have meant days of torture thanks to those eyes of his.

His eyes were closed now, and not for the first time did she see how much he resembled Sasuke. She’d seen his picture before, of course. It was in every bingo book and listed as flee on sight. Even now with him near dead she wanted to flee.

Bringing the healing chakra to her palms, Sakura nodded to the others she had long grown accustomed to working with, “ready?”

* * *

Her patient stirred a few times. Each time the medical staff would silently look at each other with uncertainty. Sedative after sedative was used, more than would ever be advisable with the typical patient.

Itachi was not typical.

It made Sakura feel a little better each time he was re-sedated, or when she felt the ANBU agents lingering around the room. Her duty was to heal Itachi Uchiha regardless of her feelings, or what this might mean for Sasuke, but it didn’t make it any less intimidating to be so close to him.

Hours must have passed by as her and the other medics stitched the elder Uchiha back together. She assumed the wounds she healed were inflicted by Sasuke. Each gash and burn the result of his training outside of the village. Sakura tried to keep him out of mind at least for the time being.

When it was over and the Uchiha before her healed for the day she had no time to follow up or do her typical post-operative routine. The room was descended upon by a team of nearly a dozen ANBU captains taking the infamous clan killer away.

Gods only knew where they would keep him, Sakura wiped her brow and stepped out into the hall.

It was dark out, but that didn’t surprise her. Long surgeries had a way of killing the day.

She made her way down the halls back towards where Sasuke had been for his healing, but to her disappointment she found that hall empty.

“Sakura?”

She turned, noticing one of the newer nurses sitting in the old vinyl chairs filling out paperwork.

“Hokage-sama said to meet her in her office when you finished for the night.”

“Do you know what happened to her patient in surgery?”

“I heard surgery went well but I can’t say for certain ma’am. All I was told was to send you to her office when you finished.”

Sakura thanked her before making her way to the tower. She was exhausted, physically, and mentally drained after such a long day, but there was nowhere else she wanted to be except Sasuke’s side.

Still numb after such a long day spent with perfect chakra control, the office she was so familiar with seemed foreign and new to her with all of the people inside.

Sasuke was absent, but that was to be expected.

The others were surprising, the strangers kept to one side of the room being guarded by Kakashi and a few other jounin. There was a tall man with bright orange hair, a shorter man with white hair, and a woman with red hair. Sakura lingered on the woman for a little longer than the others. She had a feeling about her.

“Sakura,” Tsunade spoke and seemed to break a silence that had settled over the room, “how did surgery go?”

“Uchiha Itachi is in the custody of the ANBU. He’s sedated but will survive.”

The hokage let a long sigh out, her hands clasped in front of her and a serious look that Sakura took to mean she was displeased.

“Without your intervention, would he have survived?” the tall orange haired man asked.

“I don’t believe so.”

The new woman scoffed, leaning casually against the wall she shook her head at Sakura, “you should have let him die.”

Sakura realized she’d walked into a conversation she did not have all the information on. Feeling like an outsider, she stepped closer to Sai once she realized Naruto was not present. No doubt, he’d stayed by Sasuke’s side even against orders or threats.

“Maybe,” the pink haired kunoichi agreed, “but my job was to heal him.”

They stared at each other for a while, assessing the other in an odd moment of understanding.

“Sakura, this is Sasuke’s team he assembled to track Itachi Uchiha down. We’re not sure what to do with them at present. Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu, this is Sakura Haruno, the third member of Sasuke’s genin squad.”

Tsunade sat back in her chair, her lips pressed in a tight line that Sakura knew meant she was making some big decisions. “At present, the three of you will be allowed in the village on a temporary basis. The council has recommended in the past that Sasuke be executed for his defection from Konoha, to a known terrorist. That being said, the sharingan is important to the village, and his return, as reluctant as it was, included Itachi. The council and I will confer on what to do moving forward, but for now everybody should return home and not speak on this matter until further notice.”

Sakura wished more than anything that Naruto were here. Surely, he would have spoken up and demanded resolution immediately, even if it went unheard.

But Sakura was obedient to orders, especially Tsunade’s. She bowed and slipped away with Sai and the few others in the room. Sasuke’s new team noticeably held back as accommodations were likely planned for them.

“What do you think, Ugly? Will Loverboy be alive this time next week?” Sai asked once they were out of the office.

“Yes, if Naruto and I have anything to say about it.”

“Your loyalty to the traitor is remarkable.”

She glared at her odd teammate from the corner of her eyes, “ _goodnight_ Sai.”

“Cheers,” he waived before disappearing in a flash. The wave was a new tick of his, as was the fake smile he’d flashed seconds before leaving. He was learning.

Sakura didn’t move so quickly on her way home. She wished Kakashi were here, or Naruto. Somebody that would understand the overwhelming feelings she was wrestling with. Over and over she tried to imagine Sasuke now in bed somewhere within the village.

But every time she tried to imagine him it was Itachi she pictured. Likely because she’d been operating on the older Uchiha throughout the day, yet she longed to see Sasuke.

She was quiet when she slipped into her home, but it was apparently unneeded. Kizashi’s snores echoed from his room upstairs, but her mother sat in the living room waiting for her.

And only this morning, Sakura had thought of leaving them.

No, this was what she needed. She sat beside her mother and dropped her temple to the older woman’s shoulder.

“You didn’t need to wait up.”

“I was worried about you.”

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to relax for the first time since Lee had knocked on her door. It didn’t work. Had it really been a handful of hours since Sasuke’s return? It felt like weeks already.

“Your father wanted to wait up for you, but he has to get to work early so I kicked him to bed. But I’m here. Talk to me, whatever’s on your mind.”

“Tsunade-Shishou told us not to speak on this.”

“Has that stopped you before?”

Sakura smiled. After a pot of tea was brewed, mother and daughter sat together as they had dozens of times in the past.

“I didn’t see him,” Sakura admitted, “I was told to operate on his brother.”

“Itachi!?”

“Yes, he was brought in with Sasuke.”

“Did he survive the surgery?”

“Yeah. Then ANBU took him away.”

Mebuki shook her head, “I don’t understand why they would make you save him. He killed his own parents.”

Sakura flinched, but nodded. The Uchiha Clan Massacre was kept hidden from her and her peers growing up. Even as a genin she hadn’t really known about the tragedy. Her past ignorance was almost silly to think about now, given how badly she’d wanted to know everything about Sasuke.

“It’s strange that one day he decided to up and kill his entire family,” Sakura agreed.

“It was a shock to everybody. The Uchiha district was so far out of the way of the rest of the village but even the days after it all happened, I tried to avoid that general direction.”

“Do you remember any reasons on why he did it?”

“No, not really. Everybody said he just snapped one day. I never met him or anyone from the Uchiha Clan, not really. Dad and I were trying to get business going so we never really dealt with shinobi. People were scared he would come back and kill villagers too. If he could do that to a clan of fighters, there was not telling what he could do to civilians.”

Sakura nodded along. Such a cold killer, no wonder Sasuke was so desperate for his revenge. And she healed Itachi today.

“I just wish I could understand,” she admitted.

“Sometimes that’s just not possible. You were given orders and you followed through with them. That’s all you can do sometimes. The village council will decide what to do with that man in no time, and we’ll all be better off for it.,” Mebuki reached across the table and took the empty teacup from Sakura.

“You’ll see Sasuke in no time. You and that crazy boy Naruto. Oh, and that lazy teacher of yours. They’ll execute Itachi, and before you know it things will be better for you Sakura. I just know it.”

Sakura was thankful that Mebuki had stayed up. Anytime she talked to her mother about what was happening in her life it always made her feel better.

“And when things are better,” she continued, “you can make me a grandmother.”

She felt the blush staining her cheeks, “mom!”

“Goodnight Sakura, get some sleep.”

She watched her go upstairs. A door opened and Kizashi’s snoring was louder before muffled behind a door again.

Sakura stayed on the couch, tired but unable to go to her room yet, she hugged one of the couch throw pillows beside her. Trying _not_ to think of Sasuke, she thought of the brother he’d been so desperate to kill, and how Sakura had undone it. She thought of the teammates that had accompanied him for some time now, and how they’d followed into enemy territory to be with him. She thought of Naruto, and jealousy swept through her that her friend could be with Sasuke right then. But she stayed there on the couch, afraid of what it would mean when she woke up the next day and a council was left to decide the fate of her comrade.

She listened to her fathers snoring, and for once felt relief to live at home and not the silence of an apartment.

* * *

“Did you talk to him?” Sakura asked Naruto as soon as she saw him the next day.

“No, he was unconscious when I left. Last night he woke up for a second, called me stupid, and then went back under. I don’t think he even knew he was home.”

Sakura tried to hide her smile, “at least we know he doesn’t have memory loss.”

“Sakura! Be fair now, I’ve come a long way since we were kids.”

“I suppose.”

They sat together just outside the hospital, awaiting any news now that Tsunade was with their teammate. Sakura doubted the council could come up with any answers so fast, but she was desperate for some indication of what would happen.

“It’s hard to believe he’s finally back.”

“Yeah if I hadn’t been out there trying to find more on the Pervy-Sage-” Naruto stopped short of what he was going to say, and Sakura held still at the mention of his late master.

A little less enthusiastic, Naruto started again, “if I hadn’t been trying to find whoever did _that_ to the old man, I might not have been close enough to sense their fight.”

“Did he win?”

“I’m not sure. They were both dying when I got there. Then those _teammates_ of his came in and tried to take him somewhere else. I told him we had the best medics in Konoha, and it was the best chance he had to survive.”

“But why bring Itachi?”

“They’d been off the battlefield with that shark guy and somehow got away. They worried if we left him the Akatsuki would heal him, but they didn’t want to deliver the final blow. Sasuke was dying so I finally told them we’d take both back.”

She didn’t like it but knew had she been in his position she would have likely done the same. Assuming she couldn’t have healed Sasuke right then and there. “You did it though. After all this time you brought him home.”

“I kept my promise,” he a little more distantly. She didn’t know how, but she just knew he was thinking of Jiraiya and some promise he’d made to him. Sakura took his hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Things will get better,” she repeated the same things her mother had told her the night before, “Itachi will be gone and Sasuke will be back with us and things will get better.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes,” she said with more determination, even if it just didn’t seem entirely possible.

Then Kakashi was in front of them. In a rare appearance not followed by a handful of excuses why he was so late, he waved at them and seemed oddly happy. As happy as Kakashi managed to be that is. “He’s still unconscious, but Tsunade wants to speak with you two.”

“Now?”

“Yes, follow me.”

Sakura’s heart pounded the walk through the hospital. She was going to see him. He was here and she was going to be in the same room as him in a matter of minutes. She was stronger, smarter, and a little more battle tested, but suddenly Sakura felt like a 12-year-old again begging a boy to love her.

_No._

She was better now. She would get better and stay strong.

At the door of one of the last patient rooms, two ANBU stood at attention, though they made no move to stop the rest of team 7 as they made their way in. 

She wasn’t sure what she expected. She’d seen Sasuke only the once since he left Konoha, and in the confusion they hadn’t exactly caught up or spoken.

They wouldn’t today either, given that he remained sedated in his bed. But there he was, looking so much like the boy she’d once know all those years ago.

_It’s him._

“I’ve had to sedate him for at least another night. There’s too much inflammation around his wounds and the blood loss was making healing difficult.” Tsunade explained.

“But he’s going to be alright?” Naruto asked, a little more somber than usual.

“Yes. Perhaps this time tomorrow he’ll be up on his own. Sakura, you need to come with me. Kakashi, you and Naruto can stay with Sasuke if you wish.”

She wanted to argue, or at least ask if she could have just the _one_ day off to be here as well. It wouldn’t happen, not when Tsunade was in hokage mode. She reluctantly looked away from Sasuke and nodded to Kakashi and Naruto before following her master out.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t stay very long, I wanted you to see him at least once before the shitstorm heading our way.”

“Shishou?”

“It’s been nonstop all day. Other villages are learning about both the Uchiha here and want answers. I’ve got the council arguing nonstop about what they want to do. It’s been a lot, which is why I’m glad you’re here.”

“Whatever you need from me,” Sakura walked with confidence beside the hokage.

“Good. I need you to evaluate Itachi Uchiha.”

All that confidence gone in a matter of seconds.

“You want me to what?”

They stopped, and the hokage put her hands on both of Sakura’s shoulders. “I don’t know what’s going on right now. I don’t like not knowing what’s happening in my own village. The daimyo wants him killed, the council wants him interrogated, Danzo wants… well I’m not really sure what Danzo wants. Ibiki is preparing for interrogation as we speak but I sincerely doubt they’ll learn anything. He’s not a normal shinobi, Sakura. I need to know more before I can make my decision.”

“Shishou, what could I possibly learn from him that Ibiki won’t?”

“I’m not sure, Sakura. But give me a status report on his health and his state of mind if you can. He’s been in ANBU lockup since he got out of surgery. No contact with anybody since his arrival. Go now, report to me when we’re through.”

Sakura bit her lip and clenched her fist, “you’re not telling me something.”

“I’m not telling you many things. All for your own good. Now go.”

No room to argue, Tsunade continued on, leaving Sakura standing there. Confused and terrified of what she was asked to do, the temptation to disobey and go home was there. Sakura _never_ disobeyed her orders.

She took her time walking to ANBU, her feet dragged, and she prayed to anybody who might be listening for something to stop her from entering that building.

Tsunade had been thorough and had sent word ahead of Sakura’s arrival that she would be there. She entered the base with little trouble and was escorted down the halls with equally little fuss.

“We’ve looked in a few times to make sure he was breathing, but otherwise there’s been no contact,” a man in a dragon mask told her.

“Was he conscious?”

“It’s hard to say, we’ve kept the room dark and stay a distance away. The sharingan is deadly even in a dying man.”

Sakura stopped at the top of the stairs, the long decent below her an abyss she didn’t care for. Realizing what he’d said, the dragon mask quickly backtracked. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, miss. He might even want a medics opinion, truly. Besides, he won’t be able to see you as long as you stay around the corner of his cell. It’s only a small slot you can see through, but if you don’t want to chance it, just stand around the corner.” 

“I- I will. How far down does this base go?”

“A couple of stories. He’s in the last level furthest cell down the last hall. No one’s ever escaped this place before and he won’t be the exception. I’ll bring you today, but if Hokage-Sama wants you to come again later, you’re on your own here.”

Sakura could have cried at his words and the endless steps it took to get to the lower levels of the ANBU prison. Only a few days ago she hadn’t known the extent of this place, and now there she was, the most secure facility in Konoha. She realized her pink hair and shorter figure didn’t exactly fit in with the dark and dreary facility, but she tried to walk with some level of confidence. She was here on direct orders of the hokage and that had to mean something.

On the final steps, other ANBU agents stood before a large metal door. “He was up not long ago, we heard him stand and some coughing.”

“His lungs were damaged,” Sakura spoke, and immediately regretted it when the array of animal masks looked at her. She was out of her league here. “That’s why the coughing,” she finished lamely.

“Yes, well, good luck to you kid,” one mask spoke, another laughed at the comment.

Her faced heated up, a little with anger but more likely it was embarrassment.

They opened the large door with an array of hand signs she couldn’t follow, the metal barrier between her and the clan killer gone in seconds.

“Last door on your right, Haruno. When your done just knock on this door and we’ll escort you to the surface.”

“Um, alright,” she told them, stepping into the dark and damp hallways. She heard the door close behind her, making the halls feel so much colder and longer.

She wasn’t to proud to admit she was afraid. For the life of her, Sakura couldn’t understand why Tsunade sent her here. She had never interrogated anyone before, and medical assessments of dangerous criminals were usually left to either interrogators themselves, or Tsunade. Ino’s apprenticeship with the interrogation unit had been especially praised for that very reason, her medical background.

It was hard to hear behind the metal door as solid as it was, but Sakura could hear the laughter and knew it must have been the ANBU agents she had just spoken to. More than likely, she was the butt of the joke.

Pushing away from them, she made her way down the hall with only a few candles to guide her way. She could sense him down there. Even injured, Uchiha Itachi’s presence was a powerful one.

The cells she passed were empty, with only a slot at the eye level and small openings on the ground, likely where food passed through.

She stopped just short of his cell, wondering if he was awake now. If he knew she was here or why she was here.

Sakura wasn’t really sure of the _why_ , though. His guess was as good as hers.

Clearing her throat, she stayed hidden around the corner.

“Uchiha-San?” it was a squeak more than a greeting. “My name is Sakura Haruno, I’ve been sent by the hokage to assess your health. Are you awake?”

There was movement, the sounds of him sitting up and perhaps settling in somewhere just on the other side of the wall.

“Haruno,” a silky deep voice replied with little pause or struggle, “you are my brothers’ former teammate, are you not?”

Sakura found she could not respond right away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying something new which involves starting and finishing a fic in less than a year. It's a little ambitious, especially since I'm in my last semester of college, so bear with me if updates get a little shaky until summer. That being said, this is one of those fics I always hoped to write but never sat down and wrote. 
> 
> Last year sometime at the start of quarantine I made a tumblr post about how I would have written the Uchiha massacre and how I disliked the canon explanation (long story short, I think it was a bit of a retcon). Since then, I've changed my mind on a few points of that post, but overall will incorporate those ideas into this. 
> 
> Final side note, what's bugged me down in the past and made posting regularly very difficult is me going back to edit or rewrite everything. I'm trying something new where I write, read once, and then post. I apologize if it means grammatical errors or odd pacing but I'm going to give it a go. 
> 
> That being said, I hope y'all enjoy reading this half as much as I enjoy writing it


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura wasn’t sure what she expected.

Violence? The walls to come crumbling down, maybe.

There was no such attack in the silence that stretched between them. She stayed perfectly still off to the side of his cell and forced herself to breath, _in out in out in out._

“Yes, I was his teammate. Years ago. But now I’m a medic,” she bit her lip, wincing at how chapped they were in the dry air of the cells. “I was the medic who performed surgery on you yesterday. I’m here to follow up on your health status now.”

It came out more as a question than a statement, but Sakura continued, “I just need to make sure that you’re doing okay and remain stable,” she finished lamely.

“ _Stable._ ”

“Yes, are you in any pain?”

“Not particularly. Tell me, did Sasuke survive?”

Sakura hesitated, not sure the answer would anger him or not. She mulled it over for a few seconds before deciding, “yes. He’s in the hospital, but he may be up by tomorrow.”

There was no response and she wished she could see him just to gauge what he might be thinking. Then she dismissed that idea and pushed away from the cold brick walls. If Tsunade ever made her come back to this place (and it sounded as if she would), Sakura intended to bring a sweater.

The silence that followed was more awkward than frightening. Sakura wasn’t sure what to do with herself. If she should step before his cell and potentially encounter the sharingan or remain hidden and fail to carry out her task.

Itachi decided for her, apparently aware of her hesitations. “Sakura, be assured, I have no interest in killing you.”

It did little to encourage her. If anything, it rooted her to her spot.

She moved to sit on the ground. The stone tiles cold against her skin, she ignored the sting of it and thought carefully of her next words.

Thinking clinically was the easiest for her, and Sakura tried to act as if she was speaking to any other patient after an intense healing session. “Do you feel any numbness in your arms or legs, even just your fingers or toes?”

“No.”

“Any headaches, dehydration, or trouble staying awake?”

“No.”

“Are you in any pain or severe discomfort?”

“No.”

She stopped her usual line of questioning, having a fairly good idea what his answer would be for anything she asked. The severity of his wounds and the poor condition of his cell should have meant ‘yes’ to at least one of her inquiries. Likely, he was in some measure of discomfort or even pain, but he would never admit to it. Sakura realized now how pointless it was to pretend he was a regular patient who would answer typical questions.

“Uchiha-San, I was told by the hokage to evaluate your health, but I realize now it doesn’t matter, your response will be indifferent every time.”

He didn’t respond and she feared she angered him or had grown too frank. She had a feeling that he appreciated frankness over subtlety though, and tried not to worry over any such slight.

Considering her options and in a moment of boldness, Sakura slid up from her crouched position and stood before his cell in one fluid motion.

And she nearly screamed.

He was also standing as though he’d been waiting for her to join him. He was taller than her by only a few inches, and separated by thick bars of the cell, yet Sakura felt as though she were the prisoner between the two of them.

Her eyes diverted the second she found her bearings and only belatedly realized his eyes were black rather than his kekkei genkai. She still didn’t wish to look at him for too long in case he decided to trap her in some sort of genjutsu.

Her eyes widened, wondering if he already had.

She carefully spread her chakra out to see if anything was amiss or reality even slightly altered. It was not.

Still, she wouldn’t relax or let her guard down so carelessly again.

Careful not to make eye contact, Sakura focused on the lower half of his face. The slight smirk told her he was aware of her fear.

Acting unintimidated, she continued as she had from the ground. “Hokage-sama asked me to evaluate your health, but you act as though you weren’t dying on my operating table just yesterday. It concerns me because anyone else in your position wouldn’t be so unbothered. After I leave and make my report, regardless of how you _must_ actually feel, it will be up to others what happens to your wellbeing going forward.”

“Sasuke’s former comrade,” at this, she felt his eyes sweep over her from head to foot, though she tried to remain ignorant of his gaze. “Of all people, you should be one of the most interested in commencing my interrogation.”

She flinched. There was no hiding the tenseness that swept through her. All the more frustrating since she was the one standing outside the prison gates. The one who would smell fresh air within the next hour.

“I’ve only heard the interrogation teams are effective,” she admitted, knowing they would stop only short of killing him each time. With horror, she wondered if they would make her heal him after every torture.

But that had never been Sakura’s duty before. It might be Ino, or more than likely Shizune. Possibly even Tsunade, but it was hard to say for certain. Either way, Sakura knew she couldn’t see the aftermath of Ibiki’s work. Regardless of its deservedness.

“You’ve forgotten that I know exactly what interrogation entitles, Haruno-San. I was once a leaf shinobi, same as you. In fact, it’s likely I know interrogation procedure and every nook and cranny of this place better than you. Given your lack of ANBU tattoo.”

She knew he was speaking the truth, though it was hard to picture him walking Konoha freely as he must have, once.

“Which begs the question,” he continued, “why you’re here to begin with?”

“What do you mean?” She asked before she could stop herself, though she had a sinking feeling that he was on to something.

“It is day one knowledge for interrogators not to kill their sources of information. My health is not the source of much concern to anyone, including the hokage. Only what I can and might say under distress for however long I should be kept alive. So why send you? Why send you with so little preparation to face me. Surely, it is not your _familiarity_ with my brother?”

She scrunched her nose, perceiving an insult in there somewhere. “I’m afraid I do not understand, Uchiha-San. I’m here in my capacity as a medic, I have no other objectives in my visit today.”

“Perhaps you do not, but somebody does.”

“Tsunade-Sama?” She asked, before she could stop herself. He had too much leverage in this conversation and she knew she’d have to break away soon. He was getting into her head.

“The hokage sends you on many errands, then?”

She wouldn’t answer, sensing he was manipulating her into something she wouldn’t want. “I was sent to assess your health. You’ve indicated no complications since your surgery and no pain that hinders you going forward with ANBU. I will be leaving now.”

She might have to, except that it only took a few words to freeze her in her place before him. “You wanted to be stronger, didn’t you?”

“That’s the nature of many shinobi, is it not Uchiha-San?” she asked coolly, trying not to give anything more away.

“My brother leaves Konoha shortly after the new hokage takes reign. The nine tails leaves not long after as well. What happened to you, Haruno-San?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Your teammates are gone, and you are alone. There’s a new hokage who is world renowned for her medical ninjutsu, and now you tell me you are the surgeon who kept me alive yesterday. Did you go to her? Ask for her mentorship?”

She stared at his chin and dared to glance at his eyes briefly. They remained black. She didn’t understand where he was going with this or why he was going down this line of questioning. It was no secret even outside of Konoha that she was the apprentice of Tsunade, yet he was digging into this as if there were secrets to uncover.

“She is my master,” Sakura finally conceded, curious where he might go with such a simple admission.

“ _Ah._ She trusts you.”

“Yes?”

“I imagine the hokage cannot trust many so absolutely.”

“I suppose,” Sakura felt her eyes wandering elsewhere, down the long halls back to the stairs that would get her away from him.

“She could have sent anyone down here. She is not concerned with my wellbeing, but she sent her medic apprentice. The one she _trusted._ I find that quite telling, but I’m curious what you make of it.”

Sick of his manipulations, Sakura clenched her fists and took a step back. She didn’t care that this may be perceived as a weakness, only that she wanted space between them. She glared up to meet his eyes. In her rush of anger, she damned the consequences and looked into those onyx eyes that reminded her so much of Sasuke but were also completely alien to her.

Then, to Sakura’s utter astonishment and bewilderment, she felt all of the anger and fear drain from her when she had finally looked at Itachi’s eyes with more than a quick glance.

“Uchiha-San, are you blind?”

He blinked and didn’t answer at first, then she saw the black of his eyes spiral and bleed into the red of the sharingan. “Nearly. It’s easier to see with my sharingan activated.”

“I hadn’t realized- how long?”

“It’s been ongoing.”

“Oh,” it was all she could manage. She finally looked away, uncomfortable perhaps with his near blindness and then the presence of his sharingan.

She took a deep breath in the hopes that it would calm her. All it did was give her a whiff of the mold growing somewhere and the faintest trace of blood.

“So, you imply that _I_ specifically was sent here today. I don’t understand what that reason might be, but you seem to have some idea?”

“Of course.”

Sakura shook her head, “but you won’t clue me in?”

“There are a few possibilities, none of which concern you.”

“None of which… certainly they concern me! I’m here now, and the ANBU agent who brought me down here seemed to imply I’d be back eventually. I need an answer Uchiha-San,” she hesitated and then added, “please.”

Once more Itachi appeared amused with her. Though the light smile on his face didn’t seem quite natural. It reminded her of Sai. “An ANBU implied you would be back? How careless of him.”

She glared down to the floor. That was a hint.

“He was careless by giving that away… because he knows something? He knows the reason I was sent here to begin with.”

Itachi’s face was blank, though his sharingan was still focused on her. Sakura looked back down. Her answer was wrong. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he was telling her something with his neutral expression.

Then she breathed out, “ANBU has an objective by sending me in here. But they don’t care whether you’re in good health or not, so it’s not because I’m a medic. It’s because…” she trailed off but hadn’t really expected a hint or any sort of help. It startled her when he spoke.

“Who sent you here to begin with, Sakura?”

She recognized the use of her first name, but only as an afterthought.

“Tsunade-Shishou.”

 _Tsunade._ Sakura remembered her master’s complaints of not knowing what was going on in her village. The council and the daimyo wanted Itachi executed, but that was understandable. Ibiki wanting to torture him for information was also logical, it was the man’s job. But it was the head of ANBU that was a mystery even to Tsunade. 

“Danzo,” Sakura breathed out, “he’s planning something and the ANBU know. At least the ones standing guard here. That’s why you called them careless?” She leaned forward, “That’s it, isn’t it?”

He didn’t answer, but Sakura knew she was right. “But why tell me? Is it… are you trying to make Tsunade-Shishou mistrust Danzo?”

“If she had any right to be hokage, she already mistrusts him.”

“So why tell me this? Why make me consider these things?”

“A question for another day. Consider the ANBU correct, you will be back soon.”

She stared at him knowing she’d been dismissed. To be sent away by a near blind prisoner. Only Itachi Uchiha could manage such a feat. In truth Sakura _was_ exhausted. She’d been on guard since she’d stepped into headquarters and longed to return to the comforts of home.

“Very well, Uchiha-San. I will be taking my leave then,” she turned to leave but called over her shoulder in a tired and cynical tone, “until next time.” 

Whether he responded or not she did not listen for. Her steps were fast and light back to the secured door of the basement, though she tried not to sound like she was running away.

Relief swept through her when the doors swung open after only a few knocks, even if the same mocking ANBU agents stood on the other side now.

“You made it,” a female mask spoke.

“I guess I owe you a drink,” another mask agreed, ignoring Sakura.

The third mask was silent, but Sakura sensed his amusement with his companions.

* * *

When Sakura gathered her bearings and finally made her way to the hokage tower, one of Tsunade’s secretaries told her to report in tomorrow. It seemed that many people in places of influence were disturbed enough about either Uchiha brothers return that they demanded her master’s attention. She briefly thought of returning to the hospital to be with Sasuke, but the truth was she was drained. The relief she felt when she was sent away from the hokage tower was indication enough. The less she had to think or speak about Uchiha’s, the better. At least until she regathered herself.

Going home seemed the only solution to her day.

The moment she stepped inside brought her relief. Her father was humming some tune in the kitchen while he cooked dinner, while her mother made tea and told him some story about her day. Both of them stopped when she stepped in. She saw the concerned look they were giving her, though they both tried to wipe it away once she was in the kitchen doorway.

She gave them a smile and collapsed onto one of the barstools, “smells good dad, what’s for dinner?”

“Just fish, nothing fancy,” he shot a look to her Mebuki that was painfully obvious to Sakura, “and how was your day?”

Her parents had been shinobi years and years ago. Shortly after Sakura’s birth and the nine tails attack, they’d decided to retire and enter civilian life. It suited them better and let them pursue their other talents. Like cooking, bookkeeping, and meddling in Sakura’s life.

It had bothered her as a genin, and only peeved her off now and then as she neared adulthood.

“Did you get to talk to Sasuke today?”

“No, he was still sedated.”

“I see,” Kizashi mumbled, still trying to act subtle as he broached the subject, “are you assigned to protect him?”

“Protect Sasuke?”

Mebuki took her husbands cue, acting nonchalant as she sipped her tea, “we just heard a lot of anger in the village today. That’s all.”

“Anger towards Sasuke?”

Sakura half wanted to laugh. Sasuke’s return was so much more complicated than Itachi’s. It went without saying that the older Uchiha would never walk freely through the village again. Sasuke, though, had committed his fair share of crimes but had also done some good. He’d killed Orochimaru, had nearly killed Itachi, there were rumors he’d killed one of the Akatsuki members. He was also the last chance of the sharingan continuing on as a Konoha bloodline. His return was near unprecedented, though. Defectors didn’t get second chances. Once a person turned their back on their village it was over for them and their citizenship.

But not if she, Naruto, and Kakashi had anything to say about it.

“Just a lot of people are upset he’s back.”

“It’s understandable, but they’re more upset about Itachi being back, aren’t they?” Sakura asked, surprised to hear a small hysteric in her voice.

“Well, yes. People are upset he’s here too. But he’s in prison. Sasuke’s in a hospital bed.”

Sakura noticed it then, but maybe she should have picked up on it sooner. Her parents were also among the unhappy to have Sasuke back.

They had always half-teased her about her crush on him growing up.

The grey days after he left the village had made them concerned it went beyond a school-girl crush. Especially when she’d proclaimed her love for him and had to be escorted home the next morning after spending a night unconscious on a bench.

The hadn’t really spoken directly of him since that day.

Looking at the two of them now, Sakura realized she’d miscalculated. They didn’t speak of him, not because they worried it would hurt her, but because they wished she’d forget about him.

She accepted that plate of food passed to her during her musings. She half considered telling her parents where she spent her day before deciding against it. They wouldn’t understand.

Sakura didn’t understand either.

* * *

Sakura had never been so nervous in the hospital before. She was there near daily, but now waiting as a visitor it was so much worse.

Her and Naruto waited outside the room while Tsunade and Kakashi spoke to a freshly woken Sasuke.

He was awake just inside that room, Sakura could hear his voice as low as it was. The words were muffled, but he was speaking and awake, alive, and _here_.

There was no chance of her relaxing, especially with Naruto a mess beside her, hardly sitting still. She was tempted to swat him over the back of the head but refrained.

They watched the door, eager for any invitation to enter. Two ANBU stood guard, and Sakura watched them from the corner of her eyes for any signs they were up to something. They held as still as statues the entire time she sat.

All too soon, Kakashi popped his head out the doorway, “you two,” he pointed to Naruto and Sakura, “come in.”

Naruto ran ahead of her, fearless as ever. Sakura held back, trepidation making her feet drag against the linoleum. Kakashi noticed but didn’t comment at her obvious hesitance. He seemed different today and a little more at ease. She never really thought of how Sasuke’s departure affected her sensei. She shot him a small smile and nod before heading in.

Sasuke looked different now that he was awake. Older and a little wiser than when they were kids. His eyes left Naruto and she felt him examining her with a blank look on his face. She felt awkward and 12 again, but kept on a small smile, “welcome back, Sasuke.”

“Sakura.”

Then his eyes slid over to Naruto, “moron.”

“Asshole!”

“Naruto this is a hospital, keep your voice down!” Sakura shouted.

“He started it!”

“Just like old times,” Kakashi mumbled.

“Tch.” Sasuke grunted, falling back into his pillows.

They looked around at each other. They were so different and so much time had passed, but they were together again. Her eyes slid back to Sasuke, her cheeks grew warm seeing him here and now.

“We just wanted to say hi. You must be exhausted with everything that’s happened.” Sakura spoke steadier than she felt.

“Your weird new friends were asking about you,” Naruto told him, perking Sakura’s interest. She hadn’t seen the odd assemblage since the day of Sasuke’s return.

“They came here?”

“Yeah, they’re worried about you.”

He grunted again but gave no other indication he was interested.

Tsunade cleared her throat, “I have to get back to the office. Sakura, report to me sometime today.”

She bowed, unsure when she would get to the tower but dreading her report on Itachi.

The original Team 7 together in one room for the first time in years, and as nice as it felt on surface there were some obvious issues that needed to be addressed. Sakura didn’t plan to say anything for fear of ruining the moment, and for once neither did Naruto.

It was Kakashi.

“So just so you know, Itachi is alive and in the village.” Naruto and Sakura turned to glare at him, but otherwise couldn’t move at the sudden and unimaginable rage they felt radiating from their comrade. Kakashi acted too nonchalant to actually be careless about the situation, “ _but,_ he’s in prison. So, no worries.”

Sasuke’s eyes were the brightest sharingan Sakura had ever seen as he glared ahead of them, past the wall and somewhere far away.

“What prison?”

“I’m afraid it’s top security so far underground that it’s impossible to reach without ANBU approval.” Kakashi’s one visible eye glances at her for a few seconds, much to Sakura’s chagrin. “We’ll just have to wait for the execution order.”

“No. I need to kill Itachi myself!”

“Well, at the moment I’m afraid that’s impossible.”

The comradery is gone, and the room is a little too static for her. Sakura wishes she could make it easier for him somehow and ease what pain he must be going through. 

Sasuke finally looks away from them, glaring out the window towards the streets. Anywhere but here.

“Sasuke, I’m so sorry.” Sakura can’t stop herself when the words slip out.

“Why are you apologizing?” 

“I’m just- I’m sorry he’s here.”

He doesn’t say anything. None of them do.

* * *

She was on her way to report to Tsunade, as scheduled, hours after she saw Sasuke. They’d sat together in silence far longer than she expected and now Konoha is experiencing a cloudy day to go along with her mood.

So lost in thought, she couldn’t hear her name being called at first. When she snapped back into reality, she spotted Ino standing at the doorway of the Yamanaka Flower Shop waving her over.

Sakura raised one hand in greeting and trudged over.

It’s not that her and Ino weren’t friends anymore. On the contrary, they no longer fought so viciously or frequently. They also weren’t as close as Sakura fantasized they would be after the chunin exams ended.

The occasional lunch or tea, listening about Ino’s boyfriends, and then usually weeks of radio silence. That’s what they were now.

But Sakura put on a smile and tried to walk with a little more pep.

“Hey!” She forced out, “how’s it going?”

“A little birdie told me you met with certain Uchiha?” Ino winked, a slight husk to her voice that made Sakura waiver. It almost sounded like Ino spoke plural rather than just Sasuke. And that was silly to think about, given her assessment of Itachi shouldn’t be so public…

“Sasuke’s still in the hospital, but I got to see him for a while.”

“Oh Sakura, I’m glad you got to see him, really I am. But come on, what about his brother?”

She felt herself go pale, “how’d you know about that?”

“My dad mentioned it. Ibiki and others in interrogation are so full of themselves thinking they can get him to crack, but the Yamanaka techniques are going to be the best method I’m sure. They mentioned he'd be cleared with medical soon, and well judging by how scared you look, I figure I’m on the money.”

 _They?_ Sakura wondered. Which they?

“I was on my way to report to Tsunade on him right now.” Sakura finally admitted.

“Good! We might be able to start soon.”

Raindrops sprinkled out over the village in a small burst, but all too soon it began to pour down. Ino stepped aside and ushered Sakura in, even if the latter thought their conversation was over.

“What bad weather for such a happy day,” Ino mused, taking her usual spot behind the counter. Sakura leaned against it and shrugged.

“I don’t know, feels kind of fitting.”

Her friend cocked an eyebrow, “you do seem a bit down. What’s up?”

Sakura bounced a few ideas around in her head before going with honestly. “I don’t really understand the point of interrogating Itachi Uchiha if everybody seems so confident he won’t give away any information. I wish they’d just execute him. Then we can all move on.”

“Everybody? Like Sasuke?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I take it he knows then. How is he anyway?”

“Upset his brother survived. Maybe even more so when he learns I was the surgeon. But he’s bent on revenge still, and I doubt the ANBU will release Itachi so Sasuke can fight him one on one.”

Ino looked down, seeming unsure about something before also coming to a decision. “I heard that woman that came back with him is his companion or something of the sort. I hope that’s not true.”

Sakura blinked, remembering the redhead that had been in Tsunade’s office, “Karin.”

“Yeah, that one.”

They stood together, both thinking over what that could mean.

It made Sakura uncomfortable that Sasuke might have had a companion while he was gone. So many times, she imagined herself beside him outside of Konoha. To apply that image to another woman hurt. Particularly one as attractive as Karin. She wanted to shake those thoughts away as she had ever since learning of his new team, but it was harder now with Ino watching her.

“So,” Sakura tried to change the subject, “you’re going to try to dive into Itachi Uchiha’s mind?”

“Sort of. Apparently the sharingan makes it nearly impossible, but we’re working on some ideas now. If Sasuke will agree, we might try to run some ideas on bisecting the sharingan altogether during interrogation. He should, too. Apparently full cooperation is the only way he’s getting out of this mess.”

Sakura watched one of her oldest friends with a new curiosity, and the memory of her conversation with Itachi only the day before.

“Well, I better be off to report to Tsunade. When she asked your clan to prepare your techniques for him, did they give you a timeline?”

“Oh, it wasn’t Tsunade-Sama!”

Sakura held her breath, already having a good idea what would come next.

“It was Danzo who came to us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten some very kind comments and reviews and just wanted to let you know how exciting and appreciated they are!
> 
> The title comes from the lyrics of Laura Mvula's "Sing to the Moon" which I have on repeat at the moment. 
> 
> Sakura's parents will make frequent appearances. As thinknicht did in their ItaSaku fic "More Than Enemies" it's nice to see Sakura have some parental support since canonically she was the only one with both parents alive through the series. 
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recap: Sakura learned the Yamanaka's were getting involved with Itachi's upcoming interrogation and were in cahoots with Danzo. Sasuke knows Itachi survived and has Hebi in Konoha with him. And Itachi doesn't hate Sakura's presence in the ANBU dungeon.

“He’s blind?” Tsunade asked with disbelief. Leaning back in her chair, she listened to Sakura’s report with rapt attention. 

“I’m not sure how bad it is. I couldn’t examine him properly and didn’t want to get too close but given his word I believe he needs the sharingan to see more than blurs.”

“I see,” her master was in deep concentration causing Sakura to still and let her think what course to take next.

“Perhaps this can work in our favor. I have little to no information on the sharingan and its mechanisms but Ibiki did propose removing his eyes before he begins interrogation. Maybe this way we can study what excessive use of Uchiha dojutsu causes.”

Sakura blanched and tried to remain impassive, but eye removal was just something she didn’t care to hear about. Or know was proposed and would likely happen soon. The inner workings of her village were a mystery to her, and often hard to stomach the ugly truth of.

Disoriented, she imagined the elder Uchiha in his cell with no eyes going from one round of torture to the next.

“Tsunade-Shishou, what about Danzo?” she asked in a hurry, trying to get the image out of her mind.

“What about him?”

“Oh, I’m not- I mean, he’s head of ANBU, has he told you anything about what he wants from the Uchiha?”

“No, but why do you ask?”

“Itachi Uchiha seemed to imply how important it was that you not trust Danzo.”

“He’s correct,” the hokage’s brown eyes wandered around to all the places ANBU might be listening, even then.

“Danzo never cared for the Uchiha Clan. He always thought they were up to something. A lot of people thought that way.”

It was news to Sakura, “what did they think the clan was doing?”

“They blamed the Uchiha for the Nine-Tales Attack when it was discovered the fox could be controlled with the sharingan. Before that, the Uchiha were primarily the police force in Konoha, and were kept on the outskirts of the village in their own district. It was thought that separating them from civilians would make them more effective enforcing the law.”

Sakura hadn’t known this. As a child she remembered the Uchiha Clan symbol walking through the village with a measure of authority but hadn’t then realized they were enforcing Konoha’s law.

“And people disliked them for their authority?”

“Some did. Others were indifferent so long as they didn’t overstep their authority. Either way, the village was shocked by an entire clan wiped away.”

“I don’t remember much about it.”

“Danzo was Itachi’s superior in Black Ops. There were concerns that Danzo may have known Itachi was increasingly unstable but kept him on duty anyway. A few weeks before the massacre, a promising clan member named Uchiha Shisui committed suicide, but members of the clan suspected Itachi had something to do with it. Even Fugaku Uchiha, his father had some concerns and authorized an internal investigation of his own. But it never went further than the clan, and ANBU never looked into it themselves.”

“So Itachi killed Shisui and then everyone else? Were there ever any reasons given why he went through with it?”

“It’s an impossible question. Nobody ever found out the ‘why,’ only that a single teenage boy wiped out the legacy of such a powerful clan. All gone except for Sasuke.”

Sakura nodded, suddenly appreciating so much more what drove Sasuke to be… well, what he was now. As much as it pained her to admit, maybe Itachi did have more coming to him than a swift execution. Maybe, the torture he would soon endure was warranted if it could benefit Konoha in some way. She disliked thinking that way, but as a kunoichi she recognized this as a time to ignore a natural sympathy towards pain, and instead focus on the reality of what her village needed to do.

“Shishou, why did you send me down there?”

Tsunade regarded her with something that Sakura recognized to be calculation, “my intention is to have Uchiha Itachi executed by the end of this year. Uchiha Sasuke may dislike that he’s not the executioner, but with time I hope for him to carry on his family’s legacy.” At this, Sakura’s heart pounded just a little faster and her face felt flushed. If Tsunade noticed she ignored it. “but the truth is, I think Itachi and Jiraiya were in communication.”

Sakura was confused and it must have shown on her features. Naruto’s late master having anything to do with Itachi? The room was heavy, and she took that to mean they were speaking within the safety of a soundproofing jutsu that the hokage was privy to using.

“Communication?”

“Sakura this stays between us, that should go without saying. Sarutobi Sensei and Danzo came up together as genin and eventually went to village rulership along with Sarutobi’s teammates, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu on village council. They all had similar mindsets on what direction they wanted to take the village, and they had deep faith in the Will of Fire. As genin, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and I were also taught this principal but by the end of the war, most of us were too tired to continue on as regular shinobi. Orochimaru fled when his activities were discovered, and I left when I couldn’t live with the ghosts.”

Sakura nodded with her lips pressed together when she thought of the tragedies that had driven her master to leave Konoha.

“Jiraiya left for his own reasons, coming back sporadically over the years with different intel. I didn’t realize it until I took this office, but any information we have on the Akatsuki does not become substantial until after the Uchiha Massacre. Most of the reports are written by the Third, but he cites Jiraiya as the information provider. I’ve thought about this for a while, even before Sasuke’s return, but it’s all I’ve thought about since,”

Sakura leaned forward and didn't dare interrupt as she hung onto every word.

“I ordered Itachi’s files. From the day he was registered into the academy to the last mission he was assigned as a Leaf shinobi.”

“And?”

“Nothing.” Tsunade stood and walked to the large pile of papers and boxes always littering the side of her office. There, a nondescript single box which blended with the others was singled out and sat on her desk.

“This was all they had,” she beckoned Sakura over.

Inside was a stack of basic mission reports. Some were completely redacted with black ink highlighted over paragraphs. There were a few reports untouched, but Sakura noticed the genin and chunin designation on these pages.

“Nothing from ANBU?”

“No, Danzo has those and refuses to pass them over. I have my doubts they exist at all. He wouldn’t put on paper some of his worst crimes.”

Sakura glimpsed a photo in the box of Itachi. He was young, no older than ten if she had to guess. Yet he wore a forehead protector and a grim expression that should have belonged to somebody much older. Curious, she picked it up and tried to read the messy handwriting on the back.

_Chunin. Record set Forest of Death – Solo Promotion._

She flashed it to Tsunade with a pink eyebrow cocked.

Her master held the photo up and sighed, “so much promise.”

Sakura half-watched her master return the box to the pile while she tried to figure out where she fit into this. 

“I have my suspicions with what’s going on in this village and what the Third let get out of control. The things he let happen because he trusted Danzo. I won’t let it get worse because I trusted Jiraiya. I need to know more before I can make decisions.”

“What do you need to know?” Sakura asked, desperate to know the answer as much as she dreaded what might come.

“Anything,” she huffed with a half laugh, “there’s something going on here, too many pieces moving and I can’t get involved without Danzo fighting me every step of the way, fighting me as the hokage and not as… not as Jiraiya’s friend. I need to know if he committed treason, or if he had some deal with Uchiha and what it entailed, Sakura. I think you of all people can understand what it’s like to not understand your team’s actions.”

She did. Painfully so, and even now struggled to understand why Sasuke would leave or why she wasn’t as close with Naruto or Kakashi as she had once been. But she didn’t know Itachi, and it seemed odd that she was the one given this task, even with Tsunade’s unconditional trust, “Shishou, why would Uchiha tell me anything?”

The woman said nothing, her eyes trained outside over the village as the sun pushed towards the west.

“Shishou?”

“You’re a smart girl, Sakura. Just talk to him. If he’s not being tortured, he’s sitting in that cell alone. He knows his time is up soon, and perhaps he’ll let something slip.”

Sakura doubted that. She doubted a lot of what Tsunade was saying then. There was more to this, she just knew it. How much she was going to be told was something else. Not from Tsunade, but perhaps by Itachi.

“I’ve assigned you to be his healer. There’s an ANBU medic who stabilizes him after his torture, but you should offer to heal cuts and bruises that may remain, perhaps the occasional bone.”

“When does Ibiki plan to remove his eyes?”

“Before they begin. Probably by the end of this week.”

She nodded, but it was a lot of information to take in all at once. Just like her last talk with Itachi, Sakura was tired and unsure where to go from here.

“I don’t think he’ll tell me anything, Shishou.” 

“That’s okay, Sakura. But I need somebody to _try._ I need something to go off of, anything at all. Before they execute him and this becomes a bad memory.”

“I will speak to him today, if that’s alright?”

Sakura half hoped Tsunade would say no, but her answer was a resounding yes.

* * *

Once more Sakura found herself returning to the dungeons of ANBU headquarters. To her relief, a familiar face greeted her this time.

“Yamato!”

She did not hug him, not when he was in full ANBU gear and clearly in his natural habitat with other high-ranking shinobi. Also, she wasn’t sure they were that close to warrant an embrace. He was familiar and welcome to her though, something sorely missing in her last visit.

“Sakura, I heard hokage-sama had a task for you here. It’s tough work but I’m glad you’re on it.”

She smiled, pleased with his opinion of her. Maybe he could spread the word to others that she wasn’t some simple girl.

But then she was making her way to the dungeons, Yamato escorting her and she felt silly to pretend she wasn’t afraid.

“Have they done any interrogation yet?”

“Ibiki was here earlier working on specifications for it. He wants to do it here since it’s secure, but the Yamanaka’s want their equipment brought in if that's the case and from what I've heard it's a lot of stuff.”

“Equipment?”

“I’m not really sure. They’ve been fighting over this the last few days.”

“I wish I knew what was going on,” Sakura lamented.

“Two of us. All I know is ANBU is on extra duty lately. The elders are on lockdown right now, thinking he could escape at any time.”

She half smiled, “I’m sorry, this is all so strange.”

They reached the vault door, only one man there now in a frog mask.

“Well it was good seeing you again, Sakura. Be safe now, and Dai will let you out when you’re ready.”

“Thank you,” she nodded to both of them and watched the doors slowly open.

Sakura heard some shinobi could turn themselves to steel. To be so cold and strong when they needed to be, it was a requirement of ANBU. Try as she might, she’d never succeeded in this. In surgery she might be cold to the reality whether a patient on her table had no chance no matter how hard she tried. Now, confronting an enemy shinobi she still could not find that center or that coldness. She disliked this place. She disliked that Itachi was still alive and would be tortured soon when the humane thing would be to execute him. He may have lost his humanity, but Sakura liked to think Konoha hadn’t.

Her steps were light and unhurried towards the cell she knew he was kept in. At least now she had some idea what to expect when she got there.

Unlike last time, most of the flames that had lit the walls were out and she had to use every other flame to guide her steps to the last cell.

The small window she’d spoken to him through last time was empty, something that brought her some comfort.

“Excuse me? Uchiha-San?”

“Haruno.”

“I’m sorry to disturb, but I was sent back by Tsunade-Sama to speak with you.”

“Ah. Did she give you any direction this time?”

“No-Not really, no.” She stood in silence, though not as awkward as she thought. It helped she couldn’t see him.

“I’m still confused, though.” Sakura spoke in the silence, “they should have sent Ino for this. She’s had actual training in information gathering, and Tsunade trusts her.”

She was met with more silence and wondered if he was done with her. Last time, it seemed like he expected her back and that he might not hate her for it. Now, she wasn’t sure if she’d overstepped some invisible boundary.

“Itachi-San?”

She dared to use his first name, curious if it would elicit a reaction. She heard shifting as he rose to face her. She cursed her carelessness as the world around her melted into red. Stupid! Sakura tried to escape, a choked scream may have escaped her, but it was useless as she was trapped in the mangekyou created genjutsu. Sakura shivered, still feeling as if she was in the ANBU headquarters, only now Itachi stood before her with no bars separating them.

She remembered the aftereffects of this, having seen Sasuke and Kakashi bedridden after they survived their encounters with Itachi.

“Uchiha-San?” she asked, realizing she still controlled the movement of her limbs and was unharmed so far.

“When I release you from this, only seconds will have passed in the real world, Sakura.”

“I know. I’ve heard of this jutsu before, and what you did to Kakashi and Sasuke,” she spoke lowly, afraid she might do something to upset him.

“I have no interest in hurting you. I’ve implemented the mangekyou so that we may speak freely of anyone listening.”

“Do you know whose listening?”

“Danzo, most likely. Perhaps one of his direct underlings.”

She bit her lip and tried to ignore the strangeness of this new world, “Tsunade said you once worked directly for Danzo.”

“For a time.”

She watched the blades of his sharingan slowly rotate with ease and no signs of his blindness here. Curious, she looked around at the flames which burned black and the red light seeping in from the walls. It was a scary place that she was now at the mercy of. 

“What did you want to say that Danzo couldn’t know?”

“Many things Danzo should never learn of. In many regards, he holds more power than the hokage.”

“Are you planning to kill him?”

“Yes.”

She nodded, mostly to herself as she thought carefully what to say next.

“Sakura, are you familiar with the Yamanaka Clan?”

“Ino Yamanaka and I were friends growing up.”

“So, you know of their clan jutsu.”

“Yes, mind possession.”

“Have you ever experienced it?”

“Once,” Sakura admitted, “we fought in the chunin exams and she trapped me with it. She would have had me give up the fight, but we were both exhausted and I was able to push her out in time.”

“Mind possession is a technique that Danzo has always been interested in, though he prefers permanent possession. It’s no wonder he’s using the Yamanaka’s now, but he will find that their techniques won’t work on me.”

“Because of your sharingan.”

“In part.”

“They plan to remove your eyes. Tsunade said Ibiki wanted to by the end of this week.”

“They won’t. Danzo will stop them,” he answered, so unbothered that Sakura had to reassess the situation.

“What does Danzo want from you? From everybody?”

“He’s been the power behind the hokage seat since the end of Tobirama’s reign and he’s wanted to be hokage more than anyone realizes. He may succeed in that regard. But he’s already got the village where he wants it. He wants many things, but more than anything he wants the hidden villages to fall to Konoha.”

Her eyes widened, “but that’s ridiculous. The villages are sovereign and impossible to control by a sole dictator or kage. Why would he try? I don’t understand the point.”

“I’ve never understood his reasoning either, Sakura. Many things he does in the name of the village cause more harm than good. But only one thing stands between him and his goals now.”

She wanted to say Tsunade would stop him, but Sakura was certain that Danzo had every step planned out and every scenario considered. Including the ones that removed the hokage from her seat.

“What’s stopping him?”

“The Akatsuki.”

“But don’t the Akatsuki also want world domination?”

“In a different sense, yes.”

A tug of war between Danzo and the terrorist organization he pledged his life to.

“So, what does he want with you? And me for that matter?”

“He wants to get rid of his last roadblock, the Akatsuki. That’s what he wants from me. What he wants from you is to make that possible for me.”

She heard everything he said, but it wasn’t clicking for her. She wanted to blame the intense genjutsu she was trapped in, but that wasn’t it. Mostly, it was just too much info in such a short time frame that had overwhelmed her.

When it finally hit her what he meant, she shook her head in disbelief, _“no.”_

“You will heal my eyes, Sakura. I don’t know how he’ll force you or what he’ll use to manipulate the situation, but eventually my vision will be restored without the hokage learning.”

“Why can’t she know?”

“Because Danzo is in control.”

Sakura could have cried right then if she wanted. So much happening and with no control over her life anymore she shook her head and wouldn’t look at him. She felt twelve and so insecure again, uncertain what to do with herself when confronted by greater adversary.

“Let me go. Please, release the genjutsu.”

“No.”

“Itachi, _please.”_

The black flames seemed to burn a little longer against the walls, the red light seeping in nearly touched her. Sakura was sick and this place making her feel crazy.

“ _Please,_ let me go.”

“What does Danzo have on you, Sakura? What will he use to force your hand?”

“Nothing. I’ve never met him.”

“Everybody has something.”

She can’t help but look at him closely despite this being his world.

_Everybody has something. Everybody has something. Everybody has something._

“What did he have on you?” the question comes unbidden to Sakura, but she regretted it instantly. The flames touch the ceiling and the red light near blinding.

He blinked and she felt the false world slip away from her.

Only seconds had passed in reality. 

It was too intense.

Sakura collapsed to the ground and let the coldness of the floor ease her muscles. Half tempted to press her forehead to the floor she managed to resist further humiliation. She shivered against the cold but welcomed the numbing of her limbs and the burning fever that swept through her. Sakura wasn’t sure how long she laid there until she finally felt like she could stand without returning to the floor. Words escaped her. She half crawled until her feet were beneath her and she could make the slow walk towards the door, too afraid to look back to see if Itachi was watching or not.

* * *

The good thing about Yamato was that he didn’t ask a lot of questions. It reminded her of Kakashi, so she figured it was an ANBU thing. He helped her back to the village market until she reassured him enough times that she was fine.

He didn’t fight her on the obvious lie and let her go once she got some water down.

Sakura sat out in the sun after ordering some tea from a small stand. She tried to relax her muscles in the heat and fresh air as the memory of Itachi’s artificial world slowly lost its hold over her. She supposed it was fortunate that she wasn't bedridden, but that was only the small bright side of the entire ordeal. 

It wasn’t lost on her the things he had said.

Danzo was _always_ in control.

It sounded like he’d controlled Itachi once too, if such a thing were possible.

…And then what?

Sakura hated how little she knew in this situation she’d been thrust into.

Just when she thought she would go home and try to sleep off her confusions she heard the familiar voices. More than ever she wanted to runaway and crawl into her sheets, but it was too late. She’d been spotted.

“Sakura!”

“Hey Ino! Hey Hinata.” She tried to stay positive when she saw the third kunoichi, “Karin, right?”

“That’s correct,” the redhead spoke monotone and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her pointy nose, her fire red eyes doing a once over on Sakura.

“You’ll never believe it,” Hinata broke the brief awkward stall, “they did some genetic tracing and found out Karin and Naruto are actually distant cousins.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Karin here is another Uzumaki!”

“Tsunade-Sama says she’ll allow me to take the clan name and be entered into what they have left of the genealogy. I said no at first, but Naruto-kun insists.”

Sakura blinked at the familiarity Karin used when speaking of the hokage and Naruto.

“Well, that’s great!” She tried to sound enthused. She was for Naruto’s sake, but still reeling from the dungeons, Sakura couldn’t help but wish she had gone home when she had the chance. “It’s been an eventful week for everyone, I guess.”

“Oh? Did you have anything particularly exciting?” Karin asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Well, yes. Sasuke was my teammate so I was happy to see him come back.”

“Mhmmm.”

It got awkward again, with Ino and Hinata shooting looks to each other that didn’t escape Sakura’s notice. _Sine when were they friends_ , she couldn’t help but wonder.

“And!” Ino jumped in, unable to take the silence, “Sakura here has a pretty crazy mission going this week, huh?”

“Ino, no” she tried to stop the blonde. 

“Yep, Sakura’s been assigned to monitor Sasuke’s crazy brother.”

“Itachi?” Karin asked, suddenly looking at Sakura with renewed interest.

“Yes, it was supposed to be a _secret,”_ she shot Ino a glare, with the other girl only smirking and closing her eyes for the briefest of moments in appeasement.

“Well we’re welcoming Karin to the village tonight. Nothing big, just going to a few bars and maybe the hot springs after. You want to join?”

“Thanks, but I’m exhausted after today. I think I’m just going to go home.”

“You always say that,” Ino half-snapped, what humor she’d used earlier gone.

Hinata and Karin shared a look this time, and Sakura felt more and more the outsider and newcomer.

“It sounds like a lot of fun guys, maybe next time.”

Sakura was quick to trash her teacup and escape the small park towards her home.

“I’m glad you at least asked her this time,” Hinata’s light voice whispered.

Sakura could barely hear Ino reply once she was out of the park.

“But what was the point? The answer is always the same.”

* * *

Yamato and Kakashi had the great quality of not asking unwanted questions.

Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno did not possess this trait.

Before Sakura finished taking off her shoes, they were both before her, asking all sorts of questions of what her day was like and where she’d been. Sakura thought to reassure them or play off the sort of day she had but glancing in the mirror she knew she looked too ragged to pass off as ‘fine.’

She appreciated the light probing questions, but her attention had to be dedicated to only one task that evening. Feeling a new vigor with her plans, she turned with more confidence than she'd felt in a while. 

“I’m fine.” She stopped them mid conversation. Something about Sasuke getting out of the hospital and Naruto trying to find her.

She managed to step around them, shutting the door behind herself with excuses of being tired.

Sakura was done relying on Itachi’s vague hints, or Tsunade’s breadcrumbs, or even Danzo somewhere in the shadows.

She pulled out a blank notebook and started with what she had. The night of the Uchiha Massacre. Before that, Shisui Uchiha’s death, and before that the police clan that stayed at the edge of the village.

It was time for her to solve the mystery for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everybody could enjoy this chapter. It's a lot of conspiracy but I hope that as readers it's not as confusing to y'all as it is to Sakura.


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura took her shirt off and flung it onto her bed. She grabbed a more casual blouse and gave it the same treatment as the others for that evening. She needed casual, but she also wanted cute. Maybe even sexy if she could manage.

None of her outfits achieved this, much to her dismay and frustration. Sakura regretted never going shopping with her friends or putting clothes back on the rack when she thought they’d never be worn outside of her home. She needed options now more than ever but found little to work with in her closet.

But she also didn’t want to appear too desperate.

Sasuke was out of the hospital.

For now, he was free to stay within the confines of his home in the old Uchiha district. Sakura didn’t know the details of his current freedom, but what she gathered was good. Tsunade and Ibiki were working on a formal deal for Sasuke, which included some form of probation in exchange for everything he knew on the Sound village. Probably more, but Sakura thought it was going to work out. For the first time in so long, she felt overwhelming hope for the future and her comrades. They were together again, and even though they’d never go back in time, perhaps it was time to heal and get better.

_No,_ it _would_ get better. Sakura just knew it.

She finally decided on an average everyday outfit that didn’t look too out of place. She put a little more time into fixing and smoothing her hair as well as some light makeup she hoped was flattering and subtle.

Just like the first day Team 7 met. She hadn’t known Kakashi would be so late, or else Sakura might have spent the entirety of that morning primping for that meeting on the rooftops.

Now, she tried to pretend she wasn’t so excited, or that she hadn’t fantasized about this very moment nearly every day the last three years since he’d left her.

Sakura stared at herself in the mirror, her expression dropping into disappointment. Her hair was flat and makeup a little too bold for what she had been trying to achieve.

She’d be late if she took any longer.

With some reluctance she wiped her face clean and tried to do it again with a lighter hand. She combed her hair and made peace with its lack of volume.

It wasn’t sexy or very exciting at all. Just... average.

Just Sakura.

It was Naruto’s idea, and he did have good ones occasionally. Tonight, for instance, he’d convinced Sasuke to have them over to the Uchiha district for a friendly gathering.

Sakura’s breath quickened every time she thought of the evening ahead of her.

Casual, she reminded herself. Sasuke wasn’t going to propose to her or confess his undying love.

She heard the change of air followed by the pounding on the main door.

Naruto.

“Sakura! Naruto’s here for you.” Mebuki called, though Sakura heard the flatness of her mother’s voice. She was not on board for tonight’s plans. Neither was Kizashi, but he was working late and didn’t need to know until Sakura was gone.

“Coming!”

She took one last look at herself and tried to accept what she saw. Even if she didn’t glow, at least her skin was clear. Her eyes wandered from the mirror towards her desk where even now she spied papers sticking out. Her notes and copies of what she had so far on the Uchiha Massacre.

Her mother wasn’t a snoop, but Sakura pushed the papers further into her desk to at least get them out of sight for the time being. Again, she considered what she needed to do to get her own place.

Luckily, Naruto was in his usual orange jumpsuit and appeared at ease with the night ahead of them.

“Ready to go?”

“Bye mom, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Better,” the older woman muttered, though Sakura managed to ignore it as she pushed out the door with Naruto.

“Love you!” she called back before picking up the pace with Naruto beside her.

“So, any idea how tonight will go?” she asked her friend, even if she tried to act indifferent about it. If Naruto were anyone else, he might have teased her or made some sort of remark. But her friend was as wonderfully and totally as excited as her.

“Not sure. I was surprised that Sasuke agreed to see us so soon though. When I brought it up, I was ready to keep pushing but he said yes almost right away.”

Sakura’s brows scrunched. Something was up. Sasuke never should have agreed to this without _something_ giving. She knew Naruto had to know this as well, but she wasn’t sure how to say it.

And the truth was, Sakura didn’t care what Sasuke wanted from this evening. Whatever it was, he was letting them in for once. He could ask for anything and she’d give it to him. It was fanatic and stupid, but he was home, alive and with them.

And free for the time being.

It still felt like a dream, but she was going to spend tonight with Sasuke and not his psychopath of a brother.

She pushed thoughts of Itachi away, unable to think of him at the moment.

They arrived at the compound just as the sun was lowering. Sakura shot a small smile to Naruto and took a deep breath as they knocked on the door.

It was the tall man with orange hair who answered. Sakura had no idea what to make of him. Sometimes she thought he was kind, and other times dangerous. She’d only met him the once in Tsunade’s office and if that was all she saw of him it would have been fine by her.

“Come on in,” he mumbled, stepping aside so they could enter. He left the door open as he retreated further into the small home. Sakura watched him with some curiosity as she shut the door behind her.

Her heart pounding in her chest, she prepared herself to see Sasuke no longer in a hospital bed. Sakura shook, her body full of energy she wished she’d released somehow. If she’d been thinking, she’d have gone training earlier that evening to tame her nerves.

As they crossed the thresholds, she felt the weavings of powerful chakra sensors, no doubt by the ANBU to monitor the comings and goings of the house. Sakura wondered if it was Danzo’s people in charge of that.

“Good, you didn’t run off.” Naruto’s tone was light, but Sakura heard the old hurt beneath it. She looked up, her gaze locking onto Sasuke immediately. The clothes he wore now must have been newer from the market. Nondescript and simple, it looked like his family’s crest had been sewed on already.

_Karin._

“How could I? The ANBU are always around me now,” he hissed. An actual hiss that reminded Sakura of his time with Orochimaru.

It made her flinch. That was her miscalculation in a room full of trained shinobi, and she tried to play it off by shifting focus.

“How are you feeling, Sasuke? They let you out of the hospital so suddenly.”

His eyes returned to her. It was different than when they were twelve. He was more intense with his sharp gaze that gave her another once over. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. She imagined she’d have even enjoyed it if there were nobody else around.

“Fine.” He answered. Even across the room she saw the flickers of red in his eyes, “I wasn’t expecting to be released and allowed here. I expected a prison cell.”

“So cynical,” the man with white hair chucked, “I suppose it’s fortunate they didn’t throw us in prison too. But we are cooperating. That should count for something, neh?” 

“Whatever, we have food so let’s just eat.” Karin huffed, though it didn’t sound exactly annoyed or angry.

It was an awkward affair. Quiet. Naruto even seemed to pick up on the silence they sat in but did little to break it either. Neither did Sasuke’s comrades, though she suspected it was also unusual for them. But Sakura still tried to enjoy having Sasuke here. “Is Kakashi coming?” She asked as they began to eat, desperate to break the sound of small bites of food.

“I told him about tonight,” Naruto piped in, “he said he’d try to make it, but you know what that means.”

“What does it mean?” Karin asked, her focus on Naruto. It took Sakura a second to remember they were cousins. Naruto had family, as distant as it were.

“He’s always late! He used to make me, Sakura and Sasuke wait for _hours_ for him to show up. Remember, Teme?”

“I remember.”

“Bah. Anyway, if he shows tonight it won’t be until we’re about to leave.”

“He seems like an interesting guy.” Jugo said in the silence that followed.

“He’s mastered the sharingan despite not being an Uchiha.” Sasuke added.

Sakura loved his voice, as much as it had changed. He was still at least partially that boy she had once known. _He was here._ That’s all that mattered. No matter how she tried to hold back her interest when so many people were around, her eyes kept wandering back to him.

“We never figured out what he hides under that mask of his,” Sakura mumbled. She felt Sasuke look in her direction only this time she tried to meet his gaze with a little more confidence. If he noticed, he gave no indication.

It was still a little awkward through the night when the room fell into long silences. But it wasn’t a bust, either.

Naruto and Karin were talkers, and it was nice to hear them so excited to get to know each other.

Karin wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Sakura didn’t think they’d ever really be friends. They both worked as healers, even if Karin was vague on her techniques.

Jugo was easygoing and seemed the calmest of the bunch, even if there was something else there.

Suigetsu was okay. She didn’t really have anything in common with him, but she didn’t dislike him either.

Sasuke hardly spoke, but a few times through the evening she felt him watching her. Each time she was certain her cheeks flushed. He must have realized the effect he was having on her.

As much as she wanted to stay, Sakura also wanted to leave. It was all becoming too much for her to stand.

_I love him, even still._

Her life could have been so much simpler if she didn’t, but Sakura knew it wouldn’t just go away.

Karin cleared her throat, “Naruto, I realize tonight we’re all just trying to settle in, but you mentioned having a copy of the genealogy to the Uzumaki Clan?”

“Yeah, I had to fight with the archives to get it copied, but we can try to find where your mom fit into it!”

Sakura listened and watched in surprise as Naruto pulled a scroll from his pocket, “I was looking earlier, but it’s kind of hard to read.”

“I can assist,” Jugo mumbled from his corner, “I’ve read genealogy before.”

“Great, let’s go into the kitchen where there’s better light,” Karin stood so quickly that Sakura was uncertain whether she should follow or not.

She watched for any ques if she should stay in her seat or…

Sakura looked over, catching Sasuke’s eye.

It clicked in her mind that this was intentional. This entire night has been leading to this moment where they were alone. Suigetsu stood by the entryway, within earshot but clearly not a part of what was happening.

She scrunched her eyebrows and leaned forward, curious what he’d want by sending Naruto out. When she tried to test the room around her, she thought she felt the same light cloaking the hokage used occasionally for private conversations. It was hard to focus though, especially when she felt Sasuke working up to something important.

Despite the heavy feeling of the room, Sakura remembered the day they learned to climb tress without their hands. It had been so easy for her and a natural extension of chakra control that came to her without long hours of practice or training. That hadn’t been the case for Naruto or Sasuke, and while Naruto had eventually come to her for tips on control, she’d only felt Sasuke’s heavy glare on them. He’d wanted to ask, and she knew he wanted answers, but he’d chosen to glare instead and not lower himself by asking her anything.

Waiting for him to speak now, she had that same feeling. He didn’t want to ask whatever it was that he was pondering over now… yet here they were again.

“Sasuke?” she tried to appear open to what was coming, her expression neutral but willing to hear him.

He breathed out a sigh and glanced towards the others just down the hall. Suigetsu appeared uninterested, but Sakura figured he was listening.

“Sakura, Karin told me about your mission. That you’re one of the people assigned to monitor _him.”_

She felt the blood drain from her face. If she had to name an emotion she felt at that moment, it was probably panic. Shame followed closely behind.

“I- I didn’t want to, Sasuke. It’s just- orders,”

“I don’t understand. Why you?”

_Why indeed?_ Sakura had no answer for him.

“You’ve spoken to him then?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Alone?”

She nodded, but found it too difficult to gauge his expression.

“I need you to figure something out for me, Sakura.”

“What is it?” she asked without stuttering. Anything that helped Sasuke, she’d agree to right then. _Anything,_ her mind whispered half-treasonously.

“He wasn’t the only one, I know that now. Before we fought, I asked him for the name of the other person responsible for murdering my clan.” He told her flatly. Sasuke never did have that much emotion in his voice, but now he seemed to make the effort to remain neutral. It made her heart hurt for him.

“What did he say?”

She wanted Sasuke to keep talking¸ but more than anything she wanted to prove useful to him. He was asking these things of _her._ She wanted to think it meant she had his trust.

“Madara Uchiha.”

The name sounded familiar. One of Konoha’s founding fathers. She assumed there was another Uchiha named after him.

“And you want me to learn more about this person?”

“Yes. I will kill him and then Itachi to finally have my revenge.”

“I want to help you, Sasuke. I meant what I said three years ago,” she whispered. She’d declared her love to him, three years ago after all.

“Thank you.”

She closed her eyes and tried to breath evenly. “How can you kill Itachi? He’s under lock and guard. They keep him so far below the village it takes me a while just to get to the cells.”

“I will find a way to kill him, whether this village allows it or not.”

He spoke with such certainty. She would never tell him aloud, but it reminded her of his brother.

“I will find out what I can from him.”

The words hung in the air. She dared to look up at him through her lashes. He looked…pleased. Maybe even content, from his relaxed posture. She wanted to please him. Sakura knew this was her weakness, he always had been. Suddenly too aware of Suigetsu still on the outskirts of the room, she looked away.

“Thank you, Naruto!” A loud female voice called out as it got closer to the living room.

* * *

Sakura lay in bed well into the next morning. She wanted to stay hidden in her room for the better part of the week if she could.

Dread made it harder to get up whenever she imagined leaving her room. Every scenario she played out in her head of returning to the ANBU headquarters lead to failure on her part. It was different now, working with two agendas. Tsunade’s had been simple enough. Sakura had known Jiraiya, but they hadn’t exactly been close. If she failed Tsunade, they’d chalk it up to Itachi being who he was. But now at Sasuke’s request, Sakura couldn’t stand the idea of failure.

Yet she was certain Itachi would see through any lie she’d spin. Some might say he was omnipotent with the way he seemed to know everything about everyone at all times. Sakura figured he just considered every possibility of every scenario he could encounter. It was exhausting to think about, but how did he know so much as a prisoner, when Sakura in her freedom felt she knew so little?

_I need to offer him something. Something he will value._

But she had nothing that might interest him.

She pulled her covers over her head so that she hid in her cocoon of blankets. Beside her bed was her desk which remained untouched from the night before. The papers she’d gathered on the Uchiha Massacre went untouched since the day before. She felt no closer to solving any mystery that had occurred that night, nor did she find any mention of a Madara Uchiha in the public files she had accessed. 

She heard the main entrance open and knew from the heavy footsteps that it was Kizashi. Sakura sighed before finally getting up for the morning. Her parents were watching her more recently, since Sasuke’s return. If they thought she was in some sort of depression, they’d just blame it on him.

Getting dressed, Sakura went downstairs and tried to act happier than she was when she ran into her father, “morning.”

“Glad to see you awake, Sakura!” he gave her a smile that always made her feel a little bit better. Her mother was the strict disciplinarian, but Kizashi had always been a little more easy going when it came to raising her. “Care to join your old man for an early lunch?”

“Sure,” she agreed, taking a seat at one of kitchen stools while he grabbed a few things from the fridge.

“Any plans today?”

“Well I’m not on the schedule at the hospital, but I am working on another project for the hokage.”

“Oh? What sort of project?”

She tried to be nonchalant about it, “I’m just interviewing people who may have known Jiraiya. See if they know anything about what he was up to before he passed away.”

Her dad nodded, setting out a simple plate of food for her that she immediately dug into.

“Such a shame, him dying. Is Naruto doing any better?”

“A bit. I think Sasuke returning helped him a lot, but he’s still upset.”

Had Sakura not been a shinobi, she may have missed her father’s wince when she mentioned Sasuke. She tried not to let it bother her.

Taking a sip of the water glass he poured her, she mulled over asking him before figuring it couldn’t hurt.

“Did you know any Uchiha before the massacre?”

“A few. Mostly in passing. You know most clans keep their affairs internal, but they were the police force and those records were public sometimes. We’d be hired to audit their books.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Nothing interesting. Their yearly paperclip and ink budget, really. It’s the same things now, with the new police force.”

She tapped her nails against her nearly empty plate. “Did you ever meet Itachi Uchiha?”

“Why would you ask me about that one?”

She feigned indifference, but knew his former shinobi training must have be kicking in.

“He’s locked up, but I worry for Sasuke. That’s all.”

“Never actually met him. But I saw him on occasion.”

“Really? Why?”

She sat back and tried to look unconcerned, even if the news took her by surprise.

“He must have been in ANBU by then, but some mornings we’d frequent the same little breakfast café.”

“A cafe?”

“Yeah, they sold the sweetest dango in Konoha. Onigiri, too, but their dango is the best. Once mom and I retired from shinobi duty I uh, started to gain a little weight. She tried to put us on a diet, but I needed my cheat mornings sometimes. The café was cheap and on my way to work, so I don’t think she ever knew.”

Sakura smiled a little at that. Her mother probably knew.

“I better get going,” she said once she got her plate in the sink, “I’ll be home tonight.”

“Be careful, now!”

She shot a half smile back before taking off out the door. Sakura was pretty sure she knew the café he was talking about.

* * *

The dango was tucked away in her coat pocket when she arrived at ANBU headquarters. She waved to Yamato when they passed, but otherwise she was allowed access downstairs without interference.

Halfway down the stairs, she realized the week had passed. If Tsunade and Ibiki’s plan had happened, Itachi wouldn’t have his eyes anymore.

Then she stopped thinking about such things. He’d been confident enough in his abilities, no way they removed his eyes. But he may have been tortured, and psychopath or not he was sure to have felt physical pain.

Sakura hated these thoughts, and the darkness of the long staircase only made these feelings more intense.

She didn’t think Itachi was going to kill her. He had it in his head that she was the one to correct his blindness, so perhaps he saw some usefulness there, even if Sakura couldn’t think of a scenario that would force her to heal him.

ANBU were standing guard. The frog mask, Dai, and another she didn’t know in a cat mask said nothing to her when they let her through the steel door.

She walked the long hall once more, remembering last time when she’d crawled away from the power of his genjutsu. Not again, she walked with a little more confidence.

_For Tsunade._

_For Sasuke. That’s why I need to be here._

“Itachi-San?”

She heard what she assumed was a sigh behind the steel door of his cell. “Are you okay?” She finished lamely. Of course he wasn’t okay, but she was too afraid to look inside or get to close. Even if he’d proven time and time again that she didn’t need to be close to get her with his genjutsu.

It felt stupid to have dango in her pocket now, but she thought to maybe pass them inside and leave before she offended him somehow.

“You still have your eyes.” She noted when he stood.

“I told you they would not take them.”

Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. She had nothing to say. All the failed scenarios she’d played out in her head last night and into the morning fell flat now, with little chance of redemption.

“Sasuke’s out of the hospital,” no agenda behind her words yet, it was all she had to say.

“Had you over then?”

Her eyes widened, “how did you know?”

“Sakura.”

She looked away and then felt a flash of anger that she tried to tame. To know this much from his cell without an outside source seemed unreasonable even for a renowned genius.

“Who told you?”

“Nobody needed to.”

“Please, I don’t understand. How did you know Sasuke had us over?”

“He learned of your little assignment down here, either from his own source or your own admission. He won’t stop until he’s killed me,” the world slipped into shades of red and black and Sakura knew he was now speaking only to her and not the others who may have been listening.

She wasn’t sure what happened outside of the genjutsu, but she tried to relax her body and speak without considering all of the things he might do now that she was trapped.

“but he wants to know more about the night of the massacre. He alluded to as much before we fought.”

Sakura found herself unable to look at him when he was standing outside of his cell like this.

“What do you hope to attain by doing his bidding, Sakura? His love? Affection? Uchiha do not express such things.”

She looked away. Shame and embarrassment made her cheeks burn. She couldn’t think of any words to make it better, because she wanted Sasuke’s love more than anything.

And Itachi must have known that.

What had given her away, she wondered? What had made it so obvious to a complete stranger…

She didn’t look back up at him, too ashamed of her greatest weakness. And why? Sakura had never been able to express _why_ she had loved Sasuke so much. Even now, she wasn’t sure what drew her to him in the first place. Or why she was here, so determined to learn more from Itachi.

She felt stupid and far too young to be here. No wonder the ANBU laughed at her.

“Don’t cry, Sakura. It’s pathetic.”

She felt the hot salty tears spill down her cheeks then. Despite herself, she let out a dry laugh.

“Yeah. It is.”

They stood in silence as the minutes passed in his genjutsu and she tried to regain her composure.

“What did he want you to find out from me about that night?”

“You told him Madara Uchiha helped you. He wanted to know more about that.”

“I see.”

She tried to keep her eyes dry, even if her checks felt hot and wet. “Were you going to join the police force?”

He took a step closer, something he hadn’t done last time. Alarmed, Sakura looked back at him and tried to gauge any expression.

“Why would you ask that?”

“I didn’t know the Uchiha ran the police force until last week. I guess it was a clan assignment, but you were exclusively ANBU, right?”

He seemed to think it over, “that is correct.”

“I was just curious.”

It was at the tip of her tongue to ask him about Shisui, and about the suicide that may have been a murder. But Sakura was reminded of the danger she was in by his closer proximity. More outside research was needed.

“You may tell Sasuke this is none of his concern.”

“He won’t accept that.”

She felt the genjutsu slipping away. It wasn’t as bad as last time. Still disorienting and odd to go from one world to another, but she did not feel as sick as she had last time.

Sakura took a few calming breaths and noticed that her face was dry, and that her crying in the genjutsu had not transferred over to her physically. The power of his eyes continued to impress her.

She took a few uneven steps to his cell door before reaching into her pocket and pulling the bag of dango still tucked away there.

“Here,” she sat it on the window of his cell where it balanced inside and out.

He looked at it and then down on her. This was the closest she’d ever been to him and only now could she appreciate the unfocused gaze and telltale signs of his blindness. 

“Do you want to know what Danzo has on you, Sakura?”

“I told you he doesn’t have anything.”

The elder Uchiha smirked, though it was cold and twisted in a way that made her look away.

“He knows the lengths you would go to for my brother. Don’t worry. It’s something we have in common.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's very unlikely Sasuke would just get released from the hospital without prison time, but there are things at work right now. Let me know what you guys think! I know this chapter is in the same vein as the last ones, but going forward I think we're going to see a new direction to go in.


	5. Chapter 5

Uchiha Shisui had been a member of the police force _and_ he’d been in ANBU. He was certainly an impressive shinobi before the night he died. Sakura discreetly read what she could of his accomplishments in the hokage’s private library. Unlike Itachi or even Sasuke’s files, Shisui’s was minimally redacted. He’d made ANBU very young and had a near perfect record on both his mission success rate, and his time on the police force. Similar to Itachi, it seemed the two of them were the most impressive of their generation and were expected to accomplish great things.

Yet Sakura hadn’t known about Shisui, and now Itachi was known more for his infamy than his original high-profile status in Konoha.

Sakura kept rereading Shisui’s papers, as few as she had access to as Tsunade’s medical apprentice. No matter the impressiveness with which he’d taken on a hostile, her eyes kept returning to the employment listing as both ANBU and police. Something about it stuck out to her. Especially when she knew Itachi had been only in the ANBU, and not his clans law enforcement appointment.

Itachi had been his clan’s heir. Certainly, they would have wanted him to work both duties as Shisui had. It puzzled her and she filed it away for herself to look into more when she had the chance. For now, she had limited time in Tsunade’s library and records before she aroused suspicion. She put Shisui’s back with the other Uchiha files and pulled out a larger envelope.

_Fugaku Uchiha._

He looked like Sasuke. Or rather, Sasuke looked so much like him. Fugaku had died in the massacre at just 40 years old. He was killed by his son, along with his wife who had been an inactive jounin. Fugaku had still been on active duty, though he had stopped taking missions outside of the village in order to perform clan duties. Whatever that meant. Sakura had little to no knowledge on clan politics unlike most of her classmates. She read on, seeing a similar list of early graduations and promotions that his son and nephew were renowned for.

A small annotation in Fugaku’s file noted displeasure at being passed over for Yondaime and a period of suspicion following the nine tails attack on the village. Sakura thought to remember that, and then she tried to figure out why he’d be under scrutiny for a demon attack. 

Out of curiosity, Sakura also looked at Mikoto Uchiha but found very little. She’d had a decent career and then retired from duty when she married. It seemed to be the expected pattern from many women in patriarchal clans.

Sakura looked at the pictures of Fugaku and Mikoto and couldn’t help but wonder what possessed Itachi to kill them that night.

Putting things back as she’d found them, Sakura exited the library into the dark halls of the hokage tower. She’d worked in the hospital most of the day and had only stopped here when she was certain Tsunade would have left early and not many others would be around.

Now, stretching out her tired limbs she figured she was ready for a long night’s sleep. Preferably two nights, if she wasn’t expected back at the hospital bright and early tomorrow. Her walk was slow and languid down the streets as she took in the fresh air and happy voices around her. It was busier than usual, but it was a nice break from usual hospital noises she had heard all morning. It was also better than the hollow tunnels below the village where Itachi Uchiha was currently prisoner.

She stopped when she heard laughing that sounded somewhat familiar. Glancing over, it was no surprise to her that she was at ichiraku ramen and spotted an orange jumpsuit. As much as she wanted to keep walking, Sakura figured she’d poke her head in. There was the small chance Sasuke was there too.

Alas, he was not. Karin was there, but it seemed like Karin was everywhere now. She sat in the middle between Naruto and Hinata. After a moment Sakura also noticed Team 10 taking up the other half of the bar, where Choji was steady outeating Naruto in bowls of ramen.

After a long day at the hospital patching up body after body, Sakura would usually skip the festivities in favor of dinner at home, a hot shower, and sleep in her own bed. Tonight, she forced herself to push the restaurant flaps aside and take a step in.

“Hey guys,” she waved with a small smile she hoped was warm.

“Sakura! What are you doing here?” Naruto spun on his stool, his face lighting up as he looked at her.

“I was just passing by and it smelled so good tonight.”

“Well sit down!” Ino called from the other end of the counter and waived her over. Sakura sat beside one of her oldest friends and ordered a bowl for herself.

“You’d think after all these years I’d be used to listening to Choji eat like this but I’m not. Come distract me.”

Sakura looked around the stand and tried to remember the last time she’d eaten out with friends like this. Months? Over a year? She couldn’t remember anymore. It upset her that she couldn’t put a timeframe on it.

“How’s it going?” She asked Ino once she remembered a lunch with Naruto and a few others just after her birthday.

“Boring. Busy, but nothing really happening. And you?” Ino asked with a pointed look.

Feeling honest about her situation, Sakura sighed at the bowl of ramen set in front of her. “Confusing.”

Her friend snorted, “why?”

“Just… .everything that’s happened lately.”

The blonde hummed under her breath, “well at least you aren’t all holed up right now. I’m glad you’re hanging out with us tonight.”

“Smelled so good I couldn’t resist.” Sakura shrugged, trying not to feel bad about her social absence and her lack of trying to reach out to her friends.

Ino must have noticed her reluctance and elbowed her gently against the arm, “just glad you’re here now.”

Sakura smiled back and was happy she’d sat down to eat with them. It felt nice to hear the laughter and conversations happening around her again. It was good just to be out of her own head for even a little while.

“I’m glad Naruto found a relative,” Sakura admitted lowly so as not to disturb the cousin’s conversation.

“You know, if they were to marry the Uzumaki line would return to prominence.”

Sakura was ashamed to admit she knew very little of the Uzumaki clan or why Naruto was the only one she knew.

“I though her and Sasuke were… you know?”

“Who knows?” Ino shrugged the notion off with a little more aggression than Sakura expected. She couldn’t help but wonder if she hit a sore spot.

“And who cares?” the blonde asked rhetorically. Leaning away from Shikamaru so that she could get closer to Sakura, she whispered so lightly that Sakura had to strain to hear. “Wanna know a secret? I’m in love.”

Her green eyes widened and keeping her tone low, Sakura asked, “with who?”

Ino laughed a little and sat back in her original spot. “It’s a secret, but you’re invited to the wedding when the time comes.”

Sakura looked at Shikamaru and then Choji before dismissing either of them as Ino’s mystery man. She eyed her friend again, “that serious?”

“I think so,” she said somewhat bashfully, “it’s hard to say for certain. But he means so much to me.”

The admission was light, but she could hear an intensity to Ino’s words that made Sakura even more curious. She stopped and wondered if it was Sasuke her friend spoke of, a cold chill running up her spine.

Surely, Ino would have bragged if it was him, though.

Despite her best efforts, it made Sakura a little sick to think about.

“I’m happy for you,” she said once she imagined somebody other than Sasuke. Then she was able to say it with sincerity. “Do I know him?” she nudged, unable to let Ino’s revelation go.

“ _May-be.”_ Ino teased.

“Oh, okay.”

* * *

They called it a night not long after Sakura finished her ramen. It had been a pleasant evening, but Team 10 had a mission in the morning, Hinata had to get back to the Hyuga compound, and Naruto was going to walk Karin back to the Uchiha district. Sakura watched them leave somewhat envious of their destination before she bid everyone a goodnight and headed back in the direction of the civilian district.

She breathed in the fresh air and kept her mind blank for once. It felt nice to not worry about anything, even for the few minutes it took to get home.

There’d been a genin in the hospital today screaming until the anesthesia kicked in. It was tame compared to some of her patients, but the sound of his screams kept popping into her mind despite her best efforts.

Sometimes when she thought about it, Sakura realized she was unhappy.

She tried not to think about it.

Becoming so lost in her thoughts, she almost didn’t notice the stillness of her neighborhood. She could feel the life flow of chakra in the homes she passed but knew the moment she arrived on her block that something was wrong.

Sakura only had a moment to be afraid, one second where she held as still as she could before she ran at top speed back to her house. 

“Mom! Dad!” her steps were heavy until she managed to get the door open. Sakura had felt terror on every mission that nearly went wrong or patient whose heart stopped before she could do anything to save them.

The fear that gripped her when she entered her house was unique. She could hardly breath around it when she got the lights on.

They lay on the couch beside each other, slumped over in a way that didn’t seem relaxed or comfortable.

But they were alive. Just under the effects of a powerful genjutsu.

Confused, Sakura checked on both to make sure they were truly okay. Breathing and alive, they would probably wake sometime in the morning. They would be sore from the couch but otherwise okay. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the source of power coming from her kitchen.

She wasn’t really sure what she expected.

Danzo?

Sasuke?

But of course, it would be Itachi.

The answer to many of her problems as of late was always Itachi.

He sat at the counter, a plate of food presumably saved for Sakura half eaten in front of him, as well as a tall glass of water.

“I-Itachi? What are you doing here?”

He looked at her from her head to her feet, his gaze slowly going up and down. In the light of her kitchen, she couldn’t help but notice his eyes had a twinge of grey to them, presumably from the blindness. “I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks.”

She looked away from him and took a deep breath, “are you here to kill me?” Sakura forced herself to look back for any hint of what was to come. She half expected to be drawn into the genjutsu of his world but remained firmly grounded in the reality of her childhood home. She checked twice to make sure there was no weavings of false reality around her.

“No.”

“Then why come here? You should be hours outside of the village by now.”

“I will leave when my business is concluded.”

She pressed her lips together and knew answers were necessary even if she might not like them, “what business?”

“Sasuke. I believe it’s what you and I have in common.”

She took a seat in an armchair that faced him from her living room. Casting one more concerned look to Mebuki and Kizashi, she finally gave Itachi her full attention.

“I won’t hurt him. I won’t do anything that puts him in danger, surely you know that?”

“You misunderstand my intentions, Sakura. I’m giving you an opportunity that I wouldn’t just anyone. When I leave, Sasuke will be unharmed. He will remain unharmed and will live in peace.”

Sakura raised a brow. Sasuke would never give up on revenge. As long as Itachi were alive, there would be no peace for either of them. She didn’t say this aloud, curious what Itachi was getting at by coming here tonight.

“I assume you’ve been trying to put the pieces together. So many people coming to you lately, forcing you into their agendas. Who was it tonight, Sakura? The Yamanaka’s? Or the kyuubi. Perhaps even my brother or the hokage.”

“I think you’re the only one forcing me into anything right now. Up until your imprisonment everything was fine.” Sakura bit out with some confidence. _He needs me for something, but I need him out of my house._

“Please, just tell me what you want,” she sighed, “I just need some honesty right now. No manipulations.”

“A shinobi should expect any number of agendas as all times, Sakura.”

“A shinobi should also expect intervals of times for relaxation. Particularly, when they’re in their own homes.”

Itachi smirked a little at this. It was disconcerting to see him in the same kitchen she had meals with her family, but that smile made it all the odder. Once more, she tentatively tried to feel any genjutsu she might be under.

“I spoke with your father earlier, just briefly.”

Sakura’s eyes widened and she turned to make sure Kizashi was truly alright. Chakra began to gather in her fists, and she grit her teeth as she prepared for a confirmation with the renowned Uchiha prodigy.

His dulled black eyes must have noticed the chakra gathering, but he made no motion to stand. “Don’t worry, neither of them will remember our conversation. Yet he mentioned a talk you had with him the other day. Tracking Jiraiya’s movements and conversations? An interesting mission, Sakura. Especially considering your assignment to me, first.”

She glared but refused to panic or let her anxiety shine through. Her voice shaking, she did her best to tame it and appear nonchalant about the situation she’d found herself in. Even with the chakra gathered at her knuckles. 

“Of course, I wouldn’t tell them I was dealing with _you._ Jiraiya was a safer choice.”

“An interesting choice, what made you think of him when you were looking for an excuse?”

Sakura wouldn’t answer. She felt her body begin to tremble though she wasn’t sure if it was just the fear, or the uncertainty that had her unable to stop the shivering.

“I’m tired of these conversations and your manipulation. Just tell me what you want.”

He was looking just over her head with his unfocused gaze as he seemed to reach his own conclusions. Sakura couldn’t be sure, but he seemed nearly pleased with himself over something. She wouldn’t relax or release the chakra gathering in her hands as she waited for him to speak.

“You must have some idea that Jiraiya and I had correspondence.”

“Yes,” she spoke coolly, though inside she was alarmed thinking the revelation over. Tsunade had been right.

“Good. I would like you take over his role.”

His role?

Uncertain, Sakura tried to think fast and on her toes without appearing overly displaced by the offer. She knew what Jiraiya had gained from whatever deal he had with Itachi, but she wasn’t certain what he had given the Uchiha in exchange.

Sakura figured it had something to do with Sasuke, given their conversations, but she hadn’t any clue what it was Jiraiya had provided on the younger Uchiha. As far as she knew, Jiraiya and Sasuke had never met or spent excess time together.

“You want to feed me Akatsuki information? In exchange for what?” she tried, even though she wasn’t certain that was what he offered. It’s just what Jiraiya had received and the best place for Sakura to start.

She was right.

“Jiraiya wanted information on Akatsuki because it’s what suited his mission. Now I’m offering you the same opportunity. Akatsuki or what will suit you in exchange for reciprocation.”

Reciprocate but on what?

Sasuke, somehow.

Sakura held still when she thought of one thing Itachi would want from his brother as sick as it made her. Curious and completely unwilling to entertain any such request she asked, “do you want his eyes?”

“As I’ve told you, my eyes will be healed whether you refuse or not. No, what I want from you is very simple, Sakura. For many years up until Sasuke left the village, Jiraiya simply let me know what Sasuke was doing.”

“Th-that’s it?”

Of all the scenarios she had expected, or the betrayals she envisioned Jiraiya committing against the village for information on Akatsuki… it was anticlimactic.

“What sort of things did he tell you?” she half-laughed, a bit of relief along with some remaining uncertainty.

“Anything that might have been important. When he graduated the academy or who was on his genin team,” at this he gave her a pointed look that she ignored. “When Orochimaru began to take an interest in him, and that curse mark.”

“That’s it? Jiraiya told you a few things about Sasuke, but why? You knew he was here. You could have killed him anytime.”

His voice was low and neutral. Sakura wasn’t sure what emotions _might_ have been behind it, but any trace of them were covered as he acted like they were talking of nothing of any significance.

“I have never planned on killing Sasuke.”

She said nothing.

Sakura wasn’t sure what she could possibly say or do to make any sense of the situation. He hadn’t killed Sasuke the night of the massacre and by his own admission would not do so now. It wasn’t exactly his M.O. to leave Uchiha alive.

“So, you want to continue learning about Sasuke,” _for whatever reason,_ it hung in the air but went unsaid, “but why me? Why ask me to spy on my comrade.”

“A few reasons, but none are terribly important. What matters is if you agree to this deal and what you will want in return.”

It was at the tip of her tongue to agree to his bizarre deal if he told her why she was given the task. But that would have been a waste of a golden opportunity.

She could save Naruto.

Perhaps give Sasuke some level of peace that he deserved.

Maybe even continue Jiraiya’s work and have eyes in the Akatsuki.

But in exchange she had to offer up what knowledge she had on Sasuke to the person he despised the most. An odd bargain, Sakura wished desperately there was somebody she could talk to about it. Unbiased and willing not to judge her for all the temptation she felt right then. Because no matter how much she wrestled with the decision, she also believed Itachi when he said Sasuke would not lose either his eyes or his life.

In their deep genjutsu induced sleep, her parents both made grunts and snores that distracted her train of thought. She glanced at them and then away, ashamed that they were in the same room as the clan killer because of her.

Not wanting any more distractions, Sakura tried to think of what to ask Itachi for in this deal. There were many things he might have given her but looking at him then she realized that for the first time since his and Sasuke’s arrival she finally had some leverage.

“I agree to your deal, Itachi-San. I will tell you about Sasuke going forward. But I’m afraid I’m not sure what I will want in return yet.”

“I won’t give you a blank check, Sakura. You’ll need to reach a decision soon.”

“Are you in a hurry to leave?”

_Stupid, Sakura! Of course he wants to leave soon. Ibiki is preparing a torture chamber with his name on it as we speak._ Inner Sakura made a rare appearance to herself. 

Her cheeks grew warm but she tried to push it away. He gave a half smile that was a little looser than his last, “yes, I won’t be here much longer.

“Very well,” she cleared her throat and tried to sound a little more authoritative, “I imagine I’ll be back in ANBU headquarters sometime this week. I will have a better idea then.”

“Don’t think too long. I may find better use for this offer with somebody else.”

She tried to show no reaction even if his words frighted her, “until next time.”

He stood from the bar stool but didn’t immediately leave.

“Itachi?”

“Bring dango again, next time.”

* * *

She ended up sleeping in the living room in the interest of being in the same room as her parents in case they needed her.

Periodically throughout the night, Sakura thought of Itachi and how little there was anyone could do to stop him. It was frankly an embarrassment that a powerful village like Konoha was unable to contain him. Sakura also recognized that she was a part of the problem. If she was a good kunoichi, she would have gone to Tsunade the second she realized how much power Itachi still had, blind or not.

And she hadn’t, even with her suspicions before tonight she hadn’t said anything. If Sakura were to examine exactly why she’d failed to report these things…

She resented this mission.

That was at least part of it. They’d thrown her into Itachi’s path with no preparation to serve their own agendas, and Sakura hated this feeling.

So many agendas and so little reason for it to be _her_ that had to face this. Yet it was her home Itachi had been in tonight. And it was her parents sleeping unnaturally in the grips of some genjutsu. She laid them out so that they might be more comfortable but watching them now Sakura knew that when Itachi was out of the village it would be a relief to her.

She slept off and on through the night. Any little bump made or passerby outside managed to startle her despite her earlier exhaustion. 

In the early hours of the morning when it was still dark out, bakeries were preparing their ovens and papers were being delivered, and Sakura dressed.

Her mom liked tea from the little shop at the edge of the village and her dad liked his baked goods. They wouldn’t understand why she wanted to do something nice for them, but Sakura just hoped they’d appreciate the sentiment.

In the early hours of Konoha, things moved much slower and people were less likely to butt into others business. She appreciated this as she moved about in no hurry first to the bakery and then the tea stand.

The sky was a pale grey when she started back home with the treats. Tired and finally feeling like she could sleep for more than an hour at a time, Sakura almost didn’t feel the eyes on her. Training kicking in, she relaxed her body and prepared for an attack that never came. Only a few blocks away from home, she stopped just at the edge of the small businesses that made up the merchant side of the village and waited.

“Whose there!” she growled, feeling the familiar warmth in her chest that came just before a fight.

There was a whistle, low and close.

She spotted the man staggering towards her, though she didn’t recognize him.

“Who are you?” she asked when she was certain it was her that he was stumbling to.

“Look at you, all brave out here in the open,” the main snarled.

_He’s drunk._

“I asked who you are.”

“Pshhh, I’m the one that has to watch you cower every time you come in ANBU these days.”

She tried to place him with any of the masks she’d passed by but failed to match him up. 

“Did you need me for something?”

He looked her, but his eyes lingered on her legs and chest. It gave her the creeps and reminded her of the other perverts she’d crossed paths with before.

“Could think of a few things I’d uh, need you for, Pinky. Can’t suck my own cock, ya know.”

She wrinkled her nose, “the bars closed hours ago. You should find your way home before I report your harassment.”

“Psh, don’t be a bitch.”

She turned to leave, hearing the slurs and taunts he began to hurl in her direction despite her best efforts to ignore.

“So what? If I were an Uchiha maybe I’d get some!”

She stopped dead in her tracks.

_Sasuke?_

_Or Itachi?_

_Why would you even…._

_What is he implying?_

Sakura glared back at the man and tried to memorize his approximate height and weight so that she could place him with his mask next time.

She stormed away, trying not to listen to his disgusting words as she made her way home.

Even disturbed by what he’d said, Sakura had a hard time focusing over the loud squawking of the crows that morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope people are enjoying this. Writing this has been a good distraction from real life.


End file.
